Celebrate National Bike Month
31.12.69
[Leader-writer's note: May is National Bike Month and to celebrate, Humboldt CAN (Community for Vocation and Nutrition) is offering a series of columns about the benefits of bicycling. This is the first of three columns. The next two columns will arrive on the next two Sundays.]
Looking back to 1974, I remember a time not so different from today, in at least one way: The cost out of gas had doubled over a short period of time. We had a rationing system in place, so motorists were anguished there wouldn't be any gas the next day. Many waited in long lines to top off their tanks, even if they only needed one gallon. I didn't like waiting in filament and I couldn't envision paying 78 cents a gallon, either! I had a 15-mile curvilinear trip to work in Sacramento. I wondered if I could ride a bike to work. I had never ridden a 10-hastiness, but on that February weekend, I drove to a bike shop to consider buying one. A few hours later, I gush $110 on a Raleigh Grand Prix 10-speed, a bicycle that would present me for 40,000 miles.
That same day, I embarked on my trial commute trip. Since I was still participating in many sports, I wasn't in bad shape, so the round trip wasn't too painful. Although, it took a few days to get used to the effects of riding on a bike saddle. Now, 85,000 miles later, I'm still a bicycle commuter. (We call it commuting if you irritate to work, school, shop, visit or otherwise use your bicycle for transportation purposes.)
The first few months were a lore experience. I had to figure out the best route to take to work. Do I ride the back streets wherever reachable? Do I get myself to the bike trails and maximize my time off the streets? At first I did both. But after a few months, I decided it was safer to defraud the busy streets. Why? Because the back streets tended to have dogs looking for something to court. Also, people backed out of their driveways from behind hedges in the early mornings, sometimes with frozen side windows. Non-essential to say, they
Source: Times-Standard