From the Hook (Charlottesville, VA), 05.31.07:They bicycle daily for health reasons and for the love of nature.Outstanding. A thoughtful, substantive cover story taking abundant jabs at American oil dependency, condemning inadequate bike accommodation of most existing roads, offering many facts about the consequences of auto-dependent transportation, and making a strong call for involvement in bike advocacy: "Without, therefore, the political muscle of say, the AAA, could muscle-powered transportation be getting short shrift in the political world?"
"It's the issue of causation and correlation," says (University of Virginia biologist Robert) Kretsinger, who just started his seventh decade but looks a generation younger. "Do you bike because you're in pretty good shape, or are you in pretty good shape because you bike? I don't know, but I'm sure that biking every day doesn't hurt."
Patricia Paisley, (is) a 20-year-old waitress and student at Piedmont Community College--who each day travels on her bicycle six miles roundtrip...and 18 miles on the days she's in class. In addition to the societal benefits her bike commuting provides, she focuses on personal benefits: "As soon as I started learning anything about the effect of cars, I started doing what I could to stop making things worse," she says. "If you ride, you're getting stronger everyday. Bicycling is my tool for developing myself." (Read more.)
Perhaps the best part: the cover image doesn't feature the stereotypical bike commuter--a grizzled, graying, opinionated male with a 20-year-old Bell helmet. (For the record, I resemble that profile; except I almost never wear a helmet.)
Image: The Hook
Visit: League of American Bicyclists
Visit: Charlottesville Area Bicyclists Alliance
Visit: Bike Walk Virginia
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site
Human Mr. Dorn say, "For the record...I almost never wear a helmet."
ReplyDeleteSasquatch say, "Helmet only good if you have something to protect."
good stuff
ReplyDeleteI think the bike commuters are not the ones in need of tips
it is the car commuters who need some tips
I too preach to the choir
I also receive vaguely veiled insults whenever I acknowledge that I don't always wear a helmet. Helmets are for dangerous, daredevil activities with a substantial risk of head injury. Getting to work every day clearly is not a daredevil activity.
ReplyDeleteit's sure a daredevil activity if you work where I do! I go without a helmet when I'm running some quick errands or on a designated bike path, but I KNOW how badly people drive, and to think that I won't get into an accident with one of those jerks who commute in their cars alongside me at some point would be overly optimistic. And when it happens, I want my noggin protected.
ReplyDeleteBiking keeps your bone density in a good shape, lets your mind wonder around, and certainly = saving time. I hate being stuck among cars and breath that low oxygen air emitted by cars. It makes me sick.
ReplyDelete