I Like Bikes
When I was a boy, I rode my bike to elementary school. Come middle school, the route was no longer safe, and bikes were no longer cool, so I stopped. Around that time, I started acting out more. It's hard to assign causation, but I will say my attention span and mood are elevated throughout the day if I exercise in the morning. So free exercise is the first reason why I like bicycles. The rest of this post will be to convince you to like bikes too.
I like bikes because a community where people ride bicycles is a more connected community. My hometown is in suburban Long Island. For many of my childhood peers, I would have an easier time identifying their parent's car than their parent's faces. It's hard to interact with people trapped inside personal metal boxes. However, a wave can turn into a friendship on a bicycle, and stopping in at a local business is a breeze without parking. You may be wondering, but how would we bring our goods home? With a bag, of course.
Thirdly, Bicycles promote independence, especially for adolescents. What high schooler wants to ask his mom to drive him on a date? Also, in my estimation, the public beach in my home town is vastly underused by young people because it is inaccessible by bike–aside from bicycle enthusiasts willing to risk it next to high-speed traffic. Imagine if we didn't make our young people wait until getting a driver's license to visit the beach on their own.
Next, we have the safety and cost aspects. Would you rather get hit by a bike or a car? Also, choking behind a row of exhaust pipes makes it painfully clear how poisonous cars are for our air. And while money is also pouring out of the exhaust in the form of fuel, bicycles have no such inefficiency, not to mention insurance and maintenance.
Bikes are also spatially efficient. Consider this photo from Münster, Germany:
Bikes are fun
The last reason I am advocating for bikes is they are fun. We spend so much of our lives sitting. Wouldn't it be nice to glide down the street on two wheels after being cooped up at a desk all day?
A Note on Infrastructure
Now that we all agree, bikes are great. Let's quickly talk about bike infrastructure. At the bottom of this post, I will link to some detailed YouTube videos but here is what you need to know:
A painted bicycle gutter is not bicycle infrastructure:
Good Bicycle Infrastructure is separated from Car Traffic:
The effects of good bicycle infrastructure are obvious. In all of my travels, any place blessed with a solid cycling network had people who used the infrastructure. For example, on my first morning in Copenhagen, I stumbled out of my hostel and saw this:
Compare that with this photo I took rollerbalding to Trader Joe's last week:
How would you rather spend your life? Where would you rather raise a family?
A Note on "Preferences"
When I talk to people about bikes, I often hear people say, but I prefer driving my car. I think this is a Denkfehler(German: Thought-mistake). How can you be sure you like an option you didn't choose? In most of America, the car is the only option of transportation. We don't "choose" to drive everywhere; we are doomed to it by our lack of suitable alternatives.
In Conclusion
Bikes are great because they keep us fit, safe, and prosperous. But, most importantly, bikes are just plain fun. After getting a taste for life on two wheels during my time in Europe, I will never go back to a car-dependent lifestyle. I believe many people are starting to wake up to this, and the coming decades will see a tsunami of bicycle infrastructure investment across the globe.