Comments on: The Too Smug Bicyclist http://www.daftmusings.com/2007/05/27/the-too-smug-bicyclist/ by Carolyn Bickford Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:38:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Gillian Zaharias http://www.daftmusings.com/2007/05/27/the-too-smug-bicyclist/#comment-107 Gillian Zaharias Thu, 31 May 2007 05:56:54 +0000 http://www.daftmusings.com/?p=262#comment-107 I was just trying to make a point, with a little humor, about the benefits of biking. I did tell Mr. Roadshow what I do when it rains, but he didn’t publish it. (I take Light Rail so that I’m out in the rain for only a short time.) Even if a person cycles to work, say, 9 months out of the year, that’s still a huge reduction in emissions and gas consumption. It’s easy to find bike-unfriendly roads to complain about. It took me several days of experimenting to find a safe route to get to work. No one said anything about it being “miraculous.” The sarcasm just seems misplaced. I used to ride a cheap second-hand bike that was heavy, slow and prone to breakdowns. With a busy schedule and 14 miles to ride, I decided it was worth getting a high-quality bike that goes much faster and holds up incredibly well with daily use. The time and cost of maintenance has been next to nothing in the 2.5 years I’ve had this bike. The initial price is pennies compared to the total cost of the car I would have had to get otherwise. Why does buying a good bike instead of a car make a serious commuter cyclist worthy of derision? A surprising number of people don’t realize what a hefty metabolism boost you can get from daily biking, hence the dessert comment. I guess I should have specified “Trader Joe’s cookies and chocolate”, since that’s what I eat. I’d have to go through an entire box of Joe-Joe’s cookies every day to equal the cost of gas, or more than a half pound of chocolate. I encounter the occasional rude driver whether I’m on a bike or in a car, so I don’t see how rude drivers are a unique downside to biking. It would have been nice if you’d contacted me and asked for the details you were lacking rather than skewering me as a smug “pain in the a__”. If I’d written every detail of my biking experience, it would have been much too long for the paper to publish. I’m a sincere believer in personal responsibility, which to me includes reducing my own environmental impact. After years of quietly biking to work and talking about it only when asked by curious co-workers, I realized that I am proud of my commitment and wanted to share the benefits. I don’t want accolades. I want more people to consider driving less. I was just trying to make a point, with a little humor, about the benefits of biking.

I did tell Mr. Roadshow what I do when it rains, but he didn’t publish it. (I take Light Rail so that I’m out in the rain for only a short time.) Even if a person cycles to work, say, 9 months out of the year, that’s still a huge reduction in emissions and gas consumption.

It’s easy to find bike-unfriendly roads to complain about. It took me several days of experimenting to find a safe route to get to work. No one said anything about it being “miraculous.” The sarcasm just seems misplaced.

I used to ride a cheap second-hand bike that was heavy, slow and prone to breakdowns. With a busy schedule and 14 miles to ride, I decided it was worth getting a high-quality bike that goes much faster and holds up incredibly well with daily use. The time and cost of maintenance has been next to nothing in the 2.5 years I’ve had this bike. The initial price is pennies compared to the total cost of the car I would have had to get otherwise. Why does buying a good bike instead of a car make a serious commuter cyclist worthy of derision?

A surprising number of people don’t realize what a hefty metabolism boost you can get from daily biking, hence the dessert comment. I guess I should have specified “Trader Joe’s cookies and chocolate”, since that’s what I eat. I’d have to go through an entire box of Joe-Joe’s cookies every day to equal the cost of gas, or more than a half pound of chocolate.

I encounter the occasional rude driver whether I’m on a bike or in a car, so I don’t see how rude drivers are a unique downside to biking.

It would have been nice if you’d contacted me and asked for the details you were lacking rather than skewering me as a smug “pain in the a__”. If I’d written every detail of my biking experience, it would have been much too long for the paper to publish. I’m a sincere believer in personal responsibility, which to me includes reducing my own environmental impact. After years of quietly biking to work and talking about it only when asked by curious co-workers, I realized that I am proud of my commitment and wanted to share the benefits. I don’t want accolades. I want more people to consider driving less.

]]> By: S.L. http://www.daftmusings.com/2007/05/27/the-too-smug-bicyclist/#comment-106 S.L. Wed, 30 May 2007 20:23:08 +0000 http://www.daftmusings.com/?p=262#comment-106 Aren’t bicyclists in Mountain View by definition smug? :) Aren’t bicyclists in Mountain View by definition smug? :)

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