Bloviations

May is National Bike Month. It’s also Bike to Work/School Month and is home to Bike to Work Week (May 12th to 16th) and Bike to Work Day (May 16th). All of which are sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists.

In celebration, I will be riding my bike to work every day that I can (May 8th and 29th will be drive days).

By bicycling to work, and converting my 12.5 mile 20-minute round-trip drive to a 14.4 mile bike-ride, I’ll save an estimated* $3.90 in gasoline a month and will spare the Earth 22.18lbs of CO2 in the atmosphere.

* Computed with help from The Bike Geek’s gas savings calculator and estimating that my Prius gets 45 miles per gallon (a conservative estimate) and at the current cost of $3.48 per gallon of 87 octane.

No, it’s not a dramatic or Earth-shattering saving, but, I drive a Prius, which is an uncommonly efficient and clean vehicle. And, while not included in the computation, there are other savings, that may be more valuable, involved. Without the Rhino, I won’t be making unnecessary trips, I won’t be stuck in traffic, I won’t be driving through fast-food drive-thrus (a known weakness), I will be burning calories, I will be enjoying the sun, and I will be a part of my community and environment, instead of a fish in a can…As you can see, the “extras” are indeed important.

But I’m doing more than just bicycling to work. I’m going to do my darnedest to go everywhere by bicycle (or bus, in the case of grocery shopping). I’m also going to try to do one thing a day to advocate more bicycling in Jacksonville and Onslow County. Some of things I’ll be doing are:

• Writing letters to the editors of local newspapers advocating bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure upgrades.
• Writing letters to local businesses asking them to support the efforts by local governments to create a more pedestrian/bicyclist friendly community. I will also ask them to make their businesses more pedestrian/bicyclist friendly by providing bicycle safe and secure parking racks, locking storage spaces, and showers for employees.
• Writing letters to local government officials (elected and not) asking for more support for pedestrians/bicyclists. This support includes (but is not limited to) more programs and events for bicyclists and pedestrians, educational classes to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety, and support for employers interested in providing a pedestrian/bicyclist-friendly workplace.
• Writing letters to state and national elected representatives encouraging tax benefits for pedestrians/bicycle commuters as well as advocating additional funding for local and state bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure.
• Becoming more active in participating in the local governments’ recreation and parks commissions. These commissions are the vehicle to leveraging the City and the County governments into hosting more bicycling-related events.
• Posting blog entries about my adventures in bicycling throughout Jacksonville and providing photographs and, possibly, video.

What else can I do to support and advocate for a more pedestrian/bicyclist friendly community? What else can you do?