Basket Case
It is all-too-easy to get the SUV blues as I bike around town, dodging one gas guzzler after another, each with a single occupant who always seems to be chatting it up on his or her cell phone.
But just when I think we are doomed, I turn on to Broadway and I am encouraged by the bikes in the bike racks. These aren't just any bikes, mind you, these are bikes with baskets. Or trailers. Or saddlebags.
In fact, I often think that bicycles in Chico that lack some sort of basket are in the minority.
Awesome.
Looking for a bike basket or trailer? Can't find one on Craiglist in Chico? Not surprising, as they are in such high demand here. But here is a simple tip: Try the Bay Area. The next time you or a friend make the trip down, search Craigslist ahead of time. I plan on bring back ten or twenty and selling them up here and making a killing.
On a related note, I read in an article the other day that a bike is 53 times more fuel efficient than a car when comparing food calories to gasoline calories. Intrigued, I did some online research to see how accurate this was.
What I found was that a lot of people have spent a lot of time playing eco-math:
http://gotoes.org/bikestuff/index.htm
http://kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/bike_co2.htm
http://constructal.blogspot.com/2006/03/whats-mileage-on-that-bicycle.html
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm
But let me summarize: When you take into account the amount of energy that goes into making and maintaining a car vs. a bike, as well as the amount of energy required to manufacture and transport respective fuels for a car and a bike (gasoline vs. a breakfast burrito), and then take the average weight and biking speed of an American cyclist, and factor in the fact that a Prius is five times more fuel efficient than an H2, you will find that. . .
. . .a bike is indeed much more fuel efficient than a car.
Finally, my thoughts go out to Ed McLaughin and his family. As recent transplant to Chico, I have yet to meet him, though from what I have read our community owes a lot to his efforts.