There are an endless number of things I could say about bicycle commuting. Much like a car, the bicycle will transform your entire life… if you allow it to. My bicycle has changed where I live, what I eat, the clothes I wear and the people I hang out with. Automobiles have a similar effect on their users, I know this, because I’ve been a user of both.

Three years ago, I lived in New Jersey. My house was 22 miles from my job. I drove a 1995 Nissan Maxima that I loved dearly. I spent over 2 hours a day in that car: the 45-minute slow drive to the office, the occasional run to fast food or lunchtime nap in the passenger’s seat, and the hour-long, rush-hour crawl home (elongated by strip mall traffic).

Jessie Birks

The rest of the day, I sat in a cubicle writing ads. Some days I was there until midnight, so physical fitness really took a back seat. In the 16 months I lived that life, I spent over 700 hours in my car, just commuting. I gained 15 pounds.

Near the end of that era, when I decided I wanted to go on a cross-country bicycle tour, I started biking to work once a week. The route I devised had the minimum of stoplights, so I could really get trucking. Sometimes the one way only took 90 minutes, just twice the time required to drive.

Anyway, I quit that job and I left the Jersey sprawl. The change was greatly inspired by the bicycle. To some, restructuring your life around the bicycle kind of sounds crazy. But when you look at the way America has structured its neighborhoods, businesses and lifestyles around the automobile, well, that’s pretty friggin’ crazy too.

Today, I live 5 miles from downtown Denver. My clients are downtown, if you’re not in Denver proper, you’re not a prospective client. I have no car. I ride my bike to work, to the post office, to the bank, to the grocery store, to dinner, to the bar, to the movies. I have only a bike to do my commute, and I’ve been getting along just fine for this last year and a half.

Occasionally, I ride the bus. You get to read a book, people watch, sleep if you want, and the whole trip goes by faster than you’d ever imagine. All you have to do is give yourself the time to walk to the stop and hop on. Oh, and carry the requisite $3.00 in change for the round trip (my round trip would cost $4.10 by car according to the IRS, and that doesn’t even include parking).

There’s only really one circumstance where I have to ride in a car: skiing. It’s the most affordable way to do it. I usually carpool with friends, sometimes I borrow a car. If you borrow a car and bring it back washed with a full tank, the lender is happy to have lent it.

So, to sum up my testimonial in classic late night infomercial style, bicycling has led me to a healthier, happier, more sustainable, more affordable life. If you like letting a car run your life, you’ll love having a bicycle do it.

by Jessie Birks, BikeDenver Webmaster

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