Practical cycling in 2011

My main steed

I just finished reading The Cyclists Manifesto  which is not nearly as militant as sounds.  In fact the message of the book is quite simply that you already need to get to point A to point B, so why not do so in a way that's affordable and healthy?  The book also details the history of how bikes led to the creation of the automobile and explored how and why cyclists get such a bad rap at times and why they are often seen as smug scofflaws.

A bike is at its core simply a transportation device.  Yet most cyclists in the United States don't use them for anything more than recreation.  I am guilty of this myself.  When I first really got into cycling a couple of years ago, I spend hundreds on what I read online were absolute necessities to riding.  Clipless pedals, jerseys, lycra shorts, special shoes, special gloves.  It was only a month after buying a hybrid that I had to go out and get a fast bike with drop bars.  I knew I probably was going overboard but I had a new hobby that I loved and it brought a lot of real tangible benefits to my life.

Yet I never really got the hang of using my bike as a transportation tool.  Sure I commuted to work a dozen or so times.  I'd hop on my bike to go pickup chinese food and or a coffee.  I'd ride to check out neighborhoods I'd otherwise be driving around in.  But the vast majority of my transportation still involved the car and it still does.

Well I'm hoping that 2011 (when it gets at least a little warmer) will be a little different.  I don't have any lofty goals but I hope to bike commute more and use my bike more for practical reasons.  It's not always the easiest choice, but it's definitely the healthiest, smartest, and most fun choice.  In the St. Louis area, I can bring my bike on any metrobus and metrolink train so there's really no reason I shouldn't make most of my alone trips by bike other than laziness.  I also love cycling and it's one of my absolute favorite things to do so why wouldn't I do it more?  The change of clothes and dealing with the occasional annoyed driver are worth the vast benefits cycling gives me.  I hope to reap a lot more of those benefits this year.