I Bike for Me

Jeff Westcott, an avid cyclist, bike commuter and Everybody BIKE volunteer in Bellingham, shares his joie de vivre for cycling.

Biking is my primary means of commuting for work, errands or pleasure. One day, while pedaling to work, I pondered the reasons that I ride versus the easy alternative of driving. Unfortunately, the reasons were primarily self-serving. It boils down to the fact that I like to ride my bike. That’s why I do it. I like to cycle to work and to the store. Many days, I like to bike around town to look at Bellingham Bay and the birds and to see people out and about.

I do it for me.

There was a time in my life that I rode my bike for environmental, political or socioeconomic reasons, but that’s not really the case anymore. Maybe it’s because I turned 40 last year and realize that I am no longer invincible. I just may be around for another 40 years, and as a result of the wretched bodily excesses of my youth, I’ve concluded that the human body is not infallible.

Also, the scientific community is now overwhelmingly in agreement that global climate change is caused by human-related activities. The weather will become more severe and the shifting climates and patterns that once occurred naturally over millennia are now happening over decades. I should minimize my driving in a conscious effort to stave off this catastrophe.

But that’s not why I ride.

Pollution. Respiratory and other health-related ailments. The end of “easy oil.” Dependence on fossil fuels and corrupt foreign governments. I should choose bicycling as a logical alternative to driving to mitigate any or all of the aforementioned reasons. But I don’t.

I ride for me. I ride for my health, my mental state of mind and because it feels good. I can eat Mallard’s ice cream with impunity, and retain my high school weight of 170 pounds (give or take a few). My blood pressure has returned to normal. I am in better shape than I’ve ever been.

Biking has innumerable health benefits, which are increasingly self-evident. Of course, there are the financial benefits of needing to own and upkeep only one automobile for our household (which stays in the old garage out back for most of the week).

On a daily commute, I ride bike paths and side roads around Bellingham. Occasionally, I come upon congestion (such as Sunset Square, my most frequent work destination), and am thrust amongst the stone-faced drivers who are sentenced to their daily commutes. Doomed souls. When I am in my car, people do not wave or say good morning. However, it is the norm when I commute by bicycle. Although sometimes I see gestures and words exchanged among drivers, they are usually not pleasant.

The days I am required to drive to work and confined to my car are usually the worst commutes, and I think those days at the office are subsequently more stressful. Fortunately, these amount to only one or two days per week. On these days, I miss the sight of a great blue heron flying overhead from its morning meal, the rare Ford Mustang tucked behind the garage that someone hopes to someday restore or nothing more than the wind and rain on my face. These are frequently the best parts of my day.

Some days I’d rather not bike to work, as it would be so much more convenient to drive. However, the rain beating on the bedroom window turns out to be far more unappealing than the rain falling on my face when I climb onto my cruiser to begin my daily commute. I am part of the masses en route to earn their daily bread, many also surprisingly on bicycles. And yes, I could probably get to work (or wherever my destination) more quickly by driving.

Fortunately for me, on my bike, I am already there. §