Bigfork Eagle editorial

Power of the pedal

Cycling is the only sport I've ever been really good at. I wrestled in high school, and although I loved the workouts, I wasn't very good. I'm decent at a range of other activities, but when it came to two wheels, I held my own.

In fact, when I graduated from high school, I rejected the idea of a used car for a gift. Instead, I chose a bicycle.

My parents just couldn't figure out why I'd rather spend $3,000 for something that I'd have to pedal and that couldn't haul passengers.

But I dreamed about that bike for months, and when I got my blue-anodized GT Zaskar LE, I rode thousands of miles. From single track to highways, anywhere I wanted to go she took me.

When I wasn't riding a bike, I was working at a bike shop. Only a handful of my great memories don't include a bicycle.

When I left for MSU, my bike went with me. But then the unthinkable happened.

Only a few weeks remained of my freshman year, and I went to the downstairs of my campus quad to get my bike. But she wasn't there. I looked everywhere and came up empty-handed. I was heartbroken.

I'd never even felt this bad about breaking up with a girl. Bike theft should be a capital crime.

Just a week later, a friend of mine spotted my dearly departed on EBay. I called the police, but because the perp was in Canada, they blew me off. They told me just to collect insurance and get a new one.

I did get a new one, but it was never the same. First loves leave big shoes.

I kept riding, but over the years I've spent less time on the bike and more time in front of a computer. I only have one trusty steed anymore, a decent road bike I think about riding every now and then.

And as gas prices have skyrocketed, so has my desire to get back in the saddle.

Pain at the pump is what the pundits on television are crying these days. And believe me, I feel their pain.

I'm not that old, but I remember paying 88 cents for a gallon of gas just eight years ago.

Now, the station sign I can see out my office window reads $2.99 per gallon. Yikes. I can't think of any other expense that's risen more than 240 percent in less than a decade.

Other than car insurance, fueling up my car has to be the most annoying expenditure I have. Every time I pull the handle, and refined crude pours into the tank, I grit my teeth and think of some fat cat raking in record profits.

Not only that, but I'm torn in a moral dilemma with the knowledge that somehow, all that oil money helps keep insurgents and terrorists in business.

That unfortunate truth is driven home even harder when I realize that my "Support the Troops" car magnet is placed just above my gas cap.

How sad that American consumption, including my own, is keeping our enemies chock-full of Katyusha rockets and Improvised Explosive Devices.

My wife and I have always been able to get by on one car, but our schedules are making this harder and harder to maintain. So last week we started car shopping.

As we added up the costs of payments, insurance and fuel, the epiphany hit me: "Why don't I just start riding again?"

Think about it.

? Compared to owning a car, bicycles are much cheaper and promote healthy living.

? Bicycles don't require fuel refined from our enemies' oil fields. Instead, they run on people-power, and we are easily fueled by pizza, which finances teenagers.

? Pain at the pump becomes a distant memory, unless you are pumping up a flat tire by the side of the road.

? Even a used car that's reliable will cost thousands of dollars per year; An exceptional bike will cost less than $3,000 once, and upkeep is easy.

? Companies make studded bike tires and even chains for two-wheeled enthusiasts. Winter driving is possible, although chilly.

So all that pain at the pump has an easy solution: Get on a bike! More people on bikes means less reliance on oil, which means less money for people who would do us harm. All the while, people live healthier, active lives.

As you can plainly see by now, bicycles are the key to good living and world peace.

For now, another automobile isn't on the horizon. You'll find me at the bike shops.