The inconvenience of cycling
Life is better by bike!
This morning, I rolled out of my house around 7:10am to make it to my chiropractor appointment at 7:30am. Of all the steeds in my stable, I chose the E-Bike to get there, and wore “normal” clothes, (as in, regular pants and jacket, not a cycling kit). I had a bright red jacket on, my bike is bright red, and this time of year it’s full-on daylight at this time of the morning.
I chose (fairly) lightly-traveled, low-speed limit roads plus a large portion of bike path to get from home to my destination. It was, however, still rush-hour. (Insert typical cyclist rant about a motorist buzzing or side-swiping…)
Today is day 4 of my #carfreeweek … I committed to riding and not driving this week, Tuesday through Sunday. (Monday was raining so I went for 6/7). This means my car is locked in the garage for 6 days, no matter what. Between weather and schedule, this week presented the perfect opportunity to ditch the car keys for a week.
Keep in mind, I own a perfectly lovely vehicle. I absolutely love my Toyota 4runner. LOVE IT. I can throw the bikes, dogs and anything else in the back, it drives through any kind of snow or conditions, I feel safe it in, it has a wonderful sound system and sunroof. She’s black and looks totally badass when she’s all cleaned up. (She’s nicknamed Black Mamba (you Kill Bill fans will get it)). I like my car a lot.
So …it occurred to me this morning, after several large trucks and SUVs (all carrying just one person, the driver, by the way) buzzed me closely, giving me far less than three feet, (and one hothead Cadillac-guy took a curve super hot, nearly side-swiping me), that it’s ironic how motorists view me on my E-bike doing 20mph, as inconvenient. That I should have the audacity to force them to slow their roll for a moment, to pause behind me when there is an oncoming car, and to give me the three-feet I am allowed by law… that these gestures (also known as safe and courteous driving techniques) would be so inconvenient to passing motorists that they choose instead to risk my health and bodily safety so that they can maintain their over-the-posted-speed-limit-speed … is ironic.
Because- I am the one inconvenienced. I left my wonderful 4runner home in the garage – the vehicle that would have carried me most safely, and most expeditiously, to my destinations today. The 4Runner would have provided me heated seats this morning, A/C later today, and commercial-free bass-bumping beats via satellite radio. The 4runner would’ve ensured my hair was unfussed (unmussed? whatever you know what I mean) and I was sweat-free when I got to where I was going. Make-up perfect, clothing unwrinkled. I mean, clearly, the car is THE convenient way for me to transport myself.
And yet. I chose to sweat, rock helmet-hair, take longer to get where I was going, be cold this morning and hot later today, tunes-free with chilly air blowing in my ears. I am the one inconvenienced by my decision to ride instead of drive.
In so choosing, I made a few other choices, too:
I decided to reward my body and brain with restorative movement – to get my blood pumping, to burn some calories, to absorb some Vitamin D and move my body. That means I am decreasing the odds I will be a burden to our health care system; the chances are lower that I’ll need pills to sleep, pills to wake up, pills to feel happier, pills to lose weight, or expensive hospital stays to combat the ill effects of being overweight, under-exercised, and to cope with deteriorating health. My ride means I am investing in my health in a way that does not contribute to our burdened healthcare providers, hospitals, and insurers.