Sunday, March 11, 2012

Biking Toward Environmental Responsibility

After waking up this morning and realizing that I no longer feel sick, I started thinking about just how wonderful it would feel to ride a bike again.  It's been a very long time, mainly because the city I used to live in wasn't very bike friendly.  Indeed, I was afraid that if I started bike riding again, my life expectancy would go down, rather than up like it should, because of the lack of courtesy drivers, in general, show bike riders on the city streets there.

Here, though, things are different.  Minnesota, as a whole, is a bike friendly state, and I'm living in a small city.  It's the perfect place to ride a bike!


Environmentally speaking, biking is a good choice.  The only energy involved comes from your own body.  No fossil fuel use is a good thing!  Not only that, but a bike is small.  That means that when its condition has degraded enough that it can no longer be used, there's less waste.

Healthwise, as well, it's a better choice.  I'm guessing I don't have to explain that one!

I needed something that could carry myself, as well as my daughter.  Something that would also allow me to haul groceries.  I started to look into cargo bikes.

Then, I panicked.

A nice cargo bike will cost you $2000+.  That's quite a bit of money.  Not a very economical choice, when you consider I'd still be using my car for longer trips.

I decided to downgrade.

I looked at sturdy road bikes.  You can get a good road bike for about $300.  Nothing fancy, of course, but something reliable that gets the job done.  Add a child seat to that and you're paying $60-200 more.  Still not bad, considering.  Of course, then the trailer needs to be added.  You need room to haul things, after all.  That costs even more.

Costs were adding up, again.

I decided to consult my guru.  Who is this guru, you ask?  He's an employee at the local Walgreens, and he knows everything about this town.

After hearing my story he suggested that I look into a place called Dave's Bike Salvage.  They not only take in old and unwanted bikes, but they sell them, as well.

Brilliant!  Who needs a brand new, sparkly bike, anyway?  Something that's already scratched up is a much better option for someone like me that puts things to very rough use!

Yet again, my town guru has come to my rescue.

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