Why I ride, revisited

Last May, I posted on selling utility cycling. I found the post as I was searching for references to the GMAC National Driver Test site.

It was good to read my post about utility cycling, though. It reaffirms my attitude about why I ride, which is mainly that I enjoy riding more than I enjoy driving. That I can multi-task (exercise while commuting, thus eschewing a gym membership for cardio workouts), save gas and wear on the car, reduce my insurance costs, reduce traffic congestion and the like are merely byproducts. I think that in many cases, we as advocates work too hard to sell the byproducts and not enough to sell the core issue: riding instead of driving can be MUCH more enjoyable than driving.

I had to work to wrap my mind around whether to ride to work today, though. It's raining, and is likely to continue to rain all day. I took Jenn to work, as she was a bit late for her bus, and then burned extra gas by going back home to get ready for my own work day. It kind of offsets a lot of my efforts at not burning gas, and there is some aggravation and guilt associated with that. On the other hand, I just wasn't in the mood to deal with the internal grumbling I knew would commence as soon as I got on the bike and pedaled down the road.