Thursday, May 17, 2007

Ride your bike to work

Did you know May is national Ride your bike to Work month? And Tomorrow, May 18th, is national Ride Your Bike to Work DAY.
Thanks to Bill Anders for posting this this video:



Top 5 Reasons to join the Mayor for National Bike-to-Work Day on Friday, May 18th from The city of Greenville Bike2Work web page:

  1. Good for the Environment:For every mile ridden on your bicycle, you keep 3.6 pounds of automobile pollutants from entering the atmosphere.
  2. Good for your Health:A bicyclist burns an average of 25 calories per mile.
  3. Good for your Wallet: AAA reports it costs over $5,000 per year to own and maintain a car comparedto $120 per year to own and maintain a bicycle.
  4. Good for your schedule:Combine your commute with your workout. Biking gets you there nearly asfast as driving for many local trips.
  5. Good for the Community: See Greenville from a new perspective. Learn about new and interesting areas of your neighborhood and City.

Somewhat timely, considering this story that came across my email.

Link: League of American Bicyclists

Not quite the right idea, but at least moving in the right direction: http://www.ridetowork.org/

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9 comments:

  1. Hmmmm, I'll have to look into number 1. Given that a mile consumes say 1/25th of a gallon of gas, and a gallon of gas weighs, say 10 pounds, we can imagine that the entire weight of the gas goes into the atmosphere for argument. That would mean just under 1/2 pound. I would wonder about the source of the other 3.2 pounds of pollutants put into the air.

    Are they considering the entire process, start to finish? If so, I'd consider that a stretch.

    I do, however, like the bike to work theory. It's a great workout, especially when you live 30 miles from work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good point. I ran the numbers too, afterwards. They may be considering quite a number of factors, such as the wear and tear on tires, belts, hoses, etc., as well as oil and other fluids (brake, transmission, etc.) and particulates from those, but even then, it's a stretch. I would assume also that it's based on an "average" vehicle. I've certainly owned cars that burned large quantities in oil and gas.
    As well, AAA's estimates are obviously not based on the average triathlete's bike!

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  3. Not to sound like a poo poo head, but I can just see it now. I show up at my client's home in my nice silk blouse and ann taylor slacks all sweaty and stinky. I try to convinvce them "No. I really am an Interior Designer, swear" the whole idea is great if you have a relatively short ride to the office, you have a place to clean up, change, etc and are not going to be leaving your office for the rest of the day until it is time to head home. Even then, here in the southern states (shoot even northern states in summer) with temps 90 and above, it's just not realistic to expect many people to ride their bikes to work...

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  4. Blah...it's up to us to change society's expectations, make city officials build paths; employers offer locker rooms etc...

    It's not that under all circumstances people can ride bikes around but unless pressure is brought to bear then things will simply remain the same and even when we are afforded the chance to ride to work due to good weather or the ability to spend the day completing work in the office we won't be able too because there are 30 miles of impassable super highways standing in our way, no shower facilities at work or co-workers who are horrified to see our hair tousled by a bike helmet.

    People used to tease me about being a Lance Armstrong wannabe or would ask when I was planning or racing in the Tour de France when I first started riding my bike to work…then they became interested in what I was doing and why and started asking legitimate questions and now they seem genuinely disappointed when I don't ride my bike to work…it's as if I am fulfilling some hope they have, some belief in what people can do and when I'm not doing it…well, who is?

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  5. Who's concerned about 30 miles of superhighway? I'll bike anywhere. Just ask members of my tri club. I scare them.

    I'm lucky in that I DO have reasonable facilities at work. And when people find out I rode 30 miles to get TO work, and have to ride the same 30 miles to get home, they can't believe it. Well, the know me, so can believe it, but find it crazy.

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  6. I admire you guys. You are right about needing to change some things too. Showers at work with a locker room would greatly improve the odds of more people biking to work.

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  7. I walk to work, which is even cheaper than biking since all I need are shoes and my ipod, and achieves the same end. It's a good 30 minutes to clear my head on each end of my workday. ...... Serenity now! Serenity Now!

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  8. That is a charming video!

    My transit is pretty much by foot or bus ...

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  9. Biking to work is a great idea, but you have to have a city that supports it, because it takes infrastructure like bike paths and zoning laws that require locker rooms and showers in office buildings to make it work.

    In my fair city, we have no zoning. And if you live where most people live and work where most people work, you will be run down by a pickup or an SUV within a week.

    Calgon, take me away.

    ReplyDelete

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 I'm no longer involved in multisport or endurance sports. I've started my own business, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety d...