What if Everyone Rode a Bike?

I was reading a Mizuno advertisement recent which posed the question, "what if everyone ran?" Great question I thought and next I plugged my question into my search engine "what if everyone rode a bike?" and discovered I wasn't the first.  Rather than write a blog on the topic I'm going to throw this question out to my blog readers, twitter followers, Linked In colleagues and Facebook family and friends for the next week.  



Here's your chance to write a line or two, a whole paragraph or a page.  Make it fun, make it serious.  To quote a tag line from another shoe maker, just do it!  

Your thoughts will be pulled together and updated in this blog next week.......

 Well ok, it's been more than a week and if I was a journalist with a deadline I would have been sacked by now.  Here goes.
To draw this question to an overdue conclusion, one of the best replies I had to this question was from a winemaker who lives in the Yarra Valley and actually doesn’t ride as often as he would like to because of the poor attitudes shown to cyclists on his local roads.  He said “I would like to think that there would be a sudden and massive shift in road users’ attitude and empathy toward more vulnerable road users.”

More people riding more often is the solution to congestion, sustainability, lack of public transport, self-help, health issues, etc.

Here are 10 of mine in no particular order
  •  Average fitness levels would rise
  •  Fewer sick days taken by employees
  • Motorists’ respect for riders would improve
  • People would be less stressed
  • More disposable income so long as you don’t fall for a bike which costs as much as a small car, but even then you would probably come out in front
  • Less congestion on the roads and public transport
  •  Better and safe bike lanes, paths and tracks
  • People would be more engaged with those around them
  • People would be happier
  • The world would be a better place

Comments

  1. colinoldncranky5 June 2014 at 22:38

    What if everyone rode a bike? Hmmm. Let me see...

    Well, I ride a unicycle. As I use it as a bike commuter does his or her bike and I have cover around 8000km each year I am very well known around Perth, By thousands of bikers - lycra warriors and old clunkers alike. Drivers too.

    So you can belive it when I tell you that every morning I get a steady stream of riders passing me and shouting "G'day Colin" or "How's it hanging Cranky" or "Hang in there Colin, not far to go".

    Yep. On a bike, unlike in a car, people talk, shout and offer encouragement. The world is a better place when people do that.

    People in cars only shout abuse.

    So, if everyone rode a bike the world would be a far better place to be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. selfrighteouscyclist6 June 2014 at 16:52

      Colin, what a cracking comment. Sounds like you're a regular cycling celebrity among the cyclists of Perth. Your words speak volumes about the positive attitudes derived from regular exercise.

      Delete
  2. Coaster25 June 2014 at 13:34

    It would be awesome. Things would struggle for a while as we all coped with the volume, but imagine the all the benefits. More bling for bike infrastructure meaning it got even better and easier. Healthier people. More kids on bikes. And then the knock on affect. More people getting into the other disciplines of riding like mountain biking which in turn improve because of the level of participation. No down side as far as I can see (apart from more traffic on my fav MTB track, but I can handle that if it means more riders out there).

    ReplyDelete

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