I Like To Ride My Bicycle

I was walking through my wonderfully small Wyoming community the other day and was both surprised and happy to see a grown woman riding a bicycle. You see, bikes are not some freakish event here in rural Wyoming. We are lucky enough to have a town where it is actually safe for the local kids to ride around all day long, pretty much unsupervised, burning off energy and hopefully staying out of trouble without fear of interference. But a woman on a bike in business attire in the middle of the day. Well, it’s not the norm for “conservative” Wyoming.

Not yet anyway.

But obviously the idea of leaving the car at home and taking a healthier form of transport to work may be catching on. Not because it’s a part of a green craze, the latest must do herd mentality inspired activity; rather, because it’s logical, practical and saves money: all good old fashioned cowboy values.

And I think the woman on the bike was a great lesson. We can make changes that not only help the planet but help us as individuals. We get so caught up in trying to lower our carbon footprints (which we should do right?), we forget that this stuff is good for us as individuals.

Riding a bike reduces the use of fossil fuels, reduces carbon emissions, saves energy, burns calories, increases muscles strength and tone and well, makes you feel good about yourself. I repeat: riding a bike is good for your health.

It’s a green guilt free pat on the back.

Now I don’t want to give the impression that other transport changes haven’t been taking place around here. Actually before the bicycle made its entrance, the golf carts showed up. Yes, a number of townsfolk have decided that getting on the golf cart saves gas money, especially when one is just running errands around town. And the fact that no-one blinks as the streets fill with carbon lowering cowboys driving golf carts is a good sign for the oncoming Wyoming bicycle revolution.

I’m not saying that bikes and walking will completely take over transportation methods in my state. We actually do need the trucks and sturdy cars to navigate between towns (30 to 40 miles between population centers is the norm) that you see advertised on TV. You know the ones where you wonder who the heck needs a truck that goes through blizzards, carries loads of bricks, gravel or wood, has snow chains, headache racks and two fuel tanks in case you get stranded (we do). This is the middle of nowhere after all. But that doesn’t mean we can’t ride a bike at lunchtime or walk to pick up the kids.

And if we can do it here in truck country, reducing our planetary impact, lowering our carbon footprint and reducing our carbon emissions well…

What’s your excuse?

While you are waiting for the new bike to arrive, why not offset some carbon? Every conscious change is a change in the right direction. And if you get to where you are going riding a bike, alls the better.