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1 | #title Bicycles Are Our Friends |
2 | |
3 | * [[Bicycle Routes]] |
4 | |
5 | * [[My Bicycle]] |
6 | |
7 | * [[http://journal.unknownlamer.org/tag/bicycle][Bicycling Journal Entries]] |
8 | |
9 | I write about various bicycle related things in my journal. |
10 | |
11 | |
12 | * Why I Do Not, and Shall Never Again, Own a Car |
13 | |
14 | Do you find asphalt attractive? Do you enjoy the smell of gasoline? Is |
15 | going to the pump a pleasant experience for your wallet? What of our |
16 | wonderful insurance system? |
17 | |
18 | Asphalt is ugly. Gasoline smells terrible. Gasoline is expensive. Auto |
19 | insurance costs more than I spend on food every month (twice as much |
20 | even). |
21 | |
22 | I am free of these things and refuse to be enslaved by them again. I |
23 | have no need for useless status symbols and vehicles which can take me |
24 | places five times faster than I have the desire to get there. It is |
25 | much more enjoyable to put fuel into myself rather than a gas tank (my |
26 | tongue and stomach do quite enjoy it as well). |
27 | |
28 | Every mile travelled in a car eats money, pollutes the air just a |
29 | little bit more, causes some damage to the roads, and is (I think) |
30 | quite stressful when there is heavy traffic. |
31 | |
32 | Every mile travelled on a bicycle is another 100 Calories of food I |
33 | get to eat at the end of the ride (mmm carbohydrates). I suppose my |
34 | lungs are releasing CO_2 into the air, but perhaps this is made up by |
35 | my bicycle causing no stress to the asphalt beneath me. Most of the |
36 | time I find bicycling to quite relaxing; even on the 30F |
37 | mornings. There is, naturally, some stress; usually when cars pass me |
38 | on the left as I am signalling with my arm that I am preparing to make |
39 | a left turn, or forcing me off of the road because I am in the center |
40 | of the lane as we drift to a red light, or passing me when I am |
41 | exceeding the speed limit (hills are friendly when you're going down |
42 | them). |