None of them have been published so far.
---
To the Editor:
The recent article, "Vicious Cycle" said in bold letters, "there's a lot
that has to be done before bike commuting is truly viable for regular
folks."
I think I'm regular folks. I'm a middle-aged woman who lives in Bellevue,
and I have two kids and a station wagon, even. I have a
suit-and-panty-hose type job in downtown Seattle. I didn't start off
riding to work on a regular basis because I thought myself to be a
cyclist. I started riding to work because I hit a certain age where it was
far too easy to put on weight. I thought, "I have a choice here. I can be
dumpy, I can go on a diet, or I can get exercise." I didn't want to be
dumpy. I love to eat. So I figured, "exercise". But my kids back then were
small, and after being at work all day, did I want to leave them at the
gym's child care while I did an hour of aerobics? And when would this
mythical trip to the gym occur, anyway?
Multi-tasking seemed to be the only way: I'd combine my commute with my
exercise, and ride sometimes to work. I took the old mountain bike, the
one I bought years ago, off the hook in the garage, and started riding
five miles to the park and ride. At first it took me 40 minutes. It was
scary, especially the section where I had to ride from where I had to
unload the bike from the bus, to where my office actually was.
But you know, it was scary learning how to drive a car in downtown
traffic, too. After a while, I learned better routes, safer handling
techniques. It wasn't so scary any more. And the more I rode, the less
time it took.
Although my original motivation was to avoid dumpiness and diets, the
sustaining motivation was joy. So many people hate their commute. Every so
once in a while I have to drive the car across the bridge, and I
understand where road rage comes from. It isn't fun being stuck in traffic
in your car. But it's lots of fun to ride a bike. The article extensively
talked about the frustrations of bicycle commuting, for cyclists and
motorists alike. But the reality is, it isn't frustrating to ride. It's
liberating.
Sure, it'd be nice to have better facilities, and to have all, rather than
most, motorists cooperative with bikes on the street. But the real barrier
to people using bikes transporationally is in their minds. They think it's
going to be dangerous or unpleasant. They think of all the reasons why
they can't ride, rather than thinking of ways to make it possible. If they
try it once or twice, they don't stick with it to learn that, with
experience, it isn't as scary as they initially thought. I am convinced,
though, that if people really gave it an honest try, that many of them
would find riding their bikes to work lots of fun, too.
If your commute isn't one of the best parts of your day, why not? Why
aren't you a sovereign of the road, on your bike?
--
Warm Regards,
Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky