I don’t know what you do for a living, buster, but, for a lot of us, the commute is the last rest we’re going to get (aside from a lunch break) for eight hours.

How would you like to be lectured about working a lazy-ass desk job, eh?

The more people bike, the healthier they are. Studies show that people who bike to work have fewer sick days and are more productive when they are at work. They also are happier, live longer, have more years of healthy life, and require less dollars of medical treatment each year than people who drive to work. If companies have access to a healthy workforce, their health care costs are lower. This gives these companies a competitive advantage. (Health care costs account for nearly 10% of average employee compensation expense.) In addition, unless they are hit by cars, healthy people have much less reason to visit the SF General emergency room. When people can’t pay for their visit to the SF General ER, we all pay.

Though for half a century Americans have tried to arrange their lives to avoid all forms of physical exertion, it turns out that the human body becomes sickly if it doesn’t get 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day. (Studies also show that the more hours spent driving, the more unhealthy you are.) Incorporating this moderate exercise into one’s transportation is the most reliable and least costly way of obtaining it. Creating a physical environment where driving is encouraged while walking and bicycling are kept dangerous and miserable is a tragedy for human health. The city of Copenhagen goes out of its way to encourage its citizens to bicycle for transportation because they estimate they save 42 cents in health care costs for every mile biked.

once i started riding a bike to work, i absolutely LOVED the freedom it afforded. i guess i just want everyone else to enjoy that too, and i feel like you’re really selling yourself short if you avoid biking to work because it’s too tiring or you’re worried your clothes will get stained or sweaty.

and yeah, if it’s raining or you’re drunk, take the bus for god’s sake! i’m talking about folks who restrict themselves to riding the bus every single day JUST BECAUSE, thus missing out on other wonderful transportation experiences.

i think thats fair, no?

btw, i moved from SF to NY and i love checking this blog. makes me feel at home again. these comments ARE SF.