Today is Bike to Work Day, not such a big hit
Josh brought us up to speed on Bike to Work Week, but hold on, it's not over yet.It's U.S. National Bike to Work Day today! Woo hoo! Hopefully, if you didn't know this already, you're reading this in time to jump on your bike, before you head out to work.
Or, if you're like most Americans, you'll be sticking with your car. According to a recent Reuters article, this day, well, not such a big hit.
The number of people who ride bikes at least six times a year fell to about 35 million in 2006, down from 56 million in 1995, according to a survey cited in the article. The proportion of personal trips made by bike is less than 1% in the U.S., versus 27% in the Netherlands and 18% in Denmark. Catherine Williams of Philly summed up her feelings about keeping her car, although she does use public transport when she can, "This is the U.S. and people will kill you out there riding your bike."
Most people have a set way that they get to work every day, and I don't see them changing that, for one day, just because of a campaign. But raising awareness, always a good thing.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-16-2008 @ 12:24PM
gwadzilla said...
car culture sucks
most people sucks
common sense is not so common
what are we to expect?
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5-16-2008 @ 4:52PM
Deborah said...
:-\ I know this is stupid, but, *whispers* I don't know how to ride a bike.
And when I tried recently with my dad's help, I hurt my legs with the pedals, because I felt I was so big that even my dad couldn't catch me if I fell. (Plus the bike seat hurt me like there was no tomorrow!)
I'm working on losing weight (maybe I can get to a point where I feel like a guy CAN catch me. ...maybe Hulk Hogan...X-p) but the other article about the link between obesity and global warming made me think.
I get HOT! And when I'm hot, I'm miserable. So screw walking to work; if I do, I'm liable to bite off some heads by the time I get there! ;-) All that to say, I think increased AC use contributes, too. (I also got a HUGE amount of hair-- ON MY HEAD!-- and I can stick my fingers in my hair and feel the heat coming off my skull.)
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5-17-2008 @ 10:58AM
jeff said...
Hi. Please join the Bicycle to Work! LinkedIn networking group. Members pledge that they will try to ride their bicycle to work or on an errand at least once a week. Although the benefits should be obvious, let me outline them here.
Right now people in the industrialized world are facing two very grave problems: obesity and a growing scarcity of oil. Compounding this problem is the new food shortage brought about, in part, by the conversion of food cropland to bio-fuel crop production. Most people feel powerless to help, but there is one thing that we can do. Ride our bicycles to work.
If everyone would agree to ride their bikes to work one day per week we could cut oil consumption by as much as 10-15%. No one would argue that riding a bike burns more calories than driving the car. Although popular politically right now, most bio-fuels consume more energy than they produce. We would be much better to eat those bio-crops then use our own energy to transport us around.
So spread the word. Make it a movement! Bicycle to work one day a week and do your part to cut back obesity and the overuse of oil and precious cropland.
Just go to my profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreylstevenson and you can click on the group to be included. While you are there, don't forget to ask to link to my network of more than 9,000,000 like-minded professionals. I accept all invitations and look forward to meeting you.
Jeff
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