Bicycling is the Answer

Just Ride It

Lately, I've been thinking that bicycling is the answer for America's problems. Gas prices too high? Bicycle. Growing rates of obesity and depression? Bicycle. Stuck in traffic? Bicycle. Worried about greenhouse gasses? Bicycle. I risk sounding like the monomaniacal George Bush, whose answer to every problem was "Tax cuts."

Certainly, if it worked for China, then it can work here.

I notice bicycles and bicyclists everywhere now. Yesterday I stopped and complimented a woman who had a sign on the back of her bike that read, "Powered by Ben & Jerry's. 100 miles to the gallon." There's an H.G. Wells quote on the wall of Bainbridge Island Bakers, saying, "When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." Critical Mass, a bicycle advocacy group, has been making headlines all around the country by grouping together into mobs and taking over traffic, much to the ire of motorists.

Like a lot of things, bicycling has been an activity more for the inside of my head than for my body. But that is changing. In the last couple of weeks, I've gone on progressively longer and longer rides. I started with two-mile rides, and last night completed a five-mile ride. It's a lot of hard work, and the hills around here can be pretty tough. But it is fun, especially when you're coasting downhill.