World CarFree Day Is September 22 – Get Out Your Bike And Ride
Posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009
I am appalled by the state of public transportation in most of America. There is no secret that we are way behind much of the developed world in providing clean, reliable, inexpensive mass transit to this nation’s populace. Wouldn’t reliable public transportation open some of our roadways for bike traffic? Wouldn’t that be just way too cool?
That said, or maybe gotten off my chest, I invite all my readers to take part in this year’s World CarFree Day, September 22, 2009. It’s a chance to give the world leaders a message – give us an alternative to driving our cars everywhere we go.
As many of you know, I ride my bike for exercise and fun. However, I rarely have the opportunity to ride it for transportation because there simply are not safe avenues offered in my community. The city designers were woefully short-sighted, as they were in many communities, when it came to non-car traffic.
It saddens me to see road construction going on in my community without a safe bike lane. How hard would it be, when resurfacing a roadway, to widen it a bit. The right-of-way already belongs to the state, county, or city, so what’s the problem? The tax payer is paying for those right-of-ways to be mowed, burned, and otherwise maintained. Wouldn’t it be nice if our tax dollars could go toward a usable surface alongside those roadways?
Couldn’t more of our abandoned railways be put to good use by either creating more bike paths or light rail trains, or both?
On World CarFree Day, I will participate by riding down to my neighborhood grocery store (lucky for me I have one), and will do my shopping for dinner. That’s the best I can do given the options available in my community, but it’s a start. I won’t fire up my car to drive the 2 miles. If I had more opportunities, I would take them – that is the sad truth for me and many like me.
Do what you can to observe World CarFree Day, even if you can only take a nice bike ride once you’ve parked your car after commuting to work or school. It will be a nice chance for you to dust off your bike if you haven’t been riding, to enjoy the fresh air and exercise, and to join a worthy cause. It will be great having you along for the ride!
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Thank you, Lisa, for reading and taking the time to share a little about what’s happening in your world. Also, big Birthday ((HUGS)) to your boys, although at 15 and 16 they probably would enjoy Birthday handshakes. 😉
I’ll tell you what, Lisa, when I started riding a bike again after years of being ‘bikeless”, I was WOBBLY! I felt very unsure of my balance and just generally clutzy. Nicole would panic every time I hit a bump… she was seriously scared I was going to crash and fall there many times, and with good reason.
Well, it didn’t take long, even with these old legs, to build up the strength required to feel confident and in control. Now, I hop on that bike and I feel like I did when I was 10 years old – like the bike is a part of me.
It’s a wonderful opportunity for you to ride having a trail so close. Please take advantage of it. I wish we had something like that close to us here, but Nicole and I have a nice country-ish road nearby and we just ride it several times back-and-forth to get in our 10 or 12 miles or so.
After you’ve ridden a few months, and you start feeling stronger and more confident, you’ll wonder why you ever stopped riding your bike. I will guarantee that!
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with me AND thanks for telling your boys about this blog. I appreciate your support!
😀
You and Nicole have really gotten me thinking about getting out and riding my bike again, that’s for sure!! I even checked mine out the other day to see if it’s ride-able. It’s not – hubby needs to fix the tires – and I’m afraid it’s not just pumping them. But you know, I may just try that.
We live in what I call “Little San Francisco” Alabama – basically, we’re in the foothills of the Appalachians….and the hills are cuh-razy!! And with age and added weight – those two factors alone have screwed up my balance – add the crazy hills and I thought maybe I’ll never ride again!
Until a friend gave me a big DUH! moment the other day – we also live right next to the Chief Ladiga Trail – I could actually walk the bike there if I was nervous to ride it there!! It’s that close!
Would be a wonderful tribute to the Earth and to God in thanks for my sweet boys today! (They turn 15 and 16 today!) Think I should make them walk four miles to school? I was telling them about having seen this on your blog last night! LOL!
As happened frequently in the past, you and I were on the same frequency yesterday! 🙂 I arose feeling the incredible urgency to ride my bicycle…and ride I did–30 miles!
Reading your prose, makes me feel like you are just next door…I miss you! Write on!!
Hey Anne-Marie!
Good job! It never ceases to amaze me how hoping on my bike just puts me in a whole new mood. I always feel like I’m about 10 years old again! It’s amazing, isn’t it, what a little racing around on two wheels will do for the attitude! Thanks for visiting me here and take care of yourself and your “traveling troupe” there! 🙂