Join the Bicycle Revolution

By Rafa, on June 8th, 2008

Seattle is supposed to be one of the most bicycle friendly cities in the US. The current high price of gas prompted me to put this theory to the test. I finally went to Performance Bikes on Roosevelt Ave and 45th and decided to plunk down the $229 bucks (plus tax) and get a bike. Yes, I know, I’m kind of a cheapskate and since this was mainly an experiment I figured I couldn’t justify spending $1000+ dollars on a bike with all the bells and whistles.

My reasoning for buying the bicycle is the following:

1) The price of gas is the highest it has ever been. EVER! I figure I can save a whole bunch of money if I just ride my bike around town as much as I can (when it is practical and doable).

2) Ever since I rejoined the ranks of the cubicle workers I have noticed myself expanding horizontally, most of my pants don’t fit me any more, so I figured it was time to get in shape. Besides, it will save me additional money not having to go out and buy a whole new set of “chubby love” sized pants. More $$ saved.

3) Pollution! If you hadn’t heard the news, combustion engines – quite popular on those things we call cars – exhaust a fume that tends to make the planet get warmer and have crazy weather. I figured I could save that extra fume if I drove around less.

The way I see it, riding a bicycle around town is a win win win situation. My pocket wins, my health wins, and the environment wins.

I did find that, though Seattle is one of the “most bike-friendly” cities in the US, it has a lot of improvement to do. There are cities that are certainly ahead of us here, for example Portland, OR. Portland passed a “bike law” way back in the 70′s that essentially mandated the city to be developed with bicycles in mind. And don’t even get me started on Europe. Amsterdam is the poster child of bike-friendly.

Come on Seattle! We’re supposed to be progressive here. Let’s jump on the bicycle… err… bandwagon?? Or just jump on a bike and start riding it like I did. Warning: Your butt will be very sore for a few days, but just keep riding… It will go away after a few days and a tube of Bengay.

Here’s a question: would you be willing ride a bike to work once or twice a week? or perhaps use it to go to a friend’s house instead of driving? how much would you be willing to use your bicycle?

Start the bicycle revolution!

Check out this page to see how they really do it in other places.

11 Most Bike Friendly Cities in the World