Take a bike

por Carlota Murillo (foto y texto), adolescente integrante, Fundación SKY

The smog and the horn’s noise have already driven you crazy. The cars seem as if they’re tied to the ground because they don’t actually go anywhere. Your gas tank is almost empty and you have an appointment in less than 10 minutes…

You are in Mexico City, one of the biggest cities in the world and one in which, each year, 4 million cars are added to the streets. It’s like any other day and you have been stuck in traffic for more than one hour and a half and you wish you could fly. All these problems just because you are using a car.

Only in the last year, the Mexican economy bled an estimated $200 million pesos as a result of time lost in traffic. Meanwhile, 14,700 deaths were blamed on air pollution that can be directly attributed to vehicular emissions, which are in turn the cause of a variety of diseases and respiratory ailments. And yet, there is a simple solution to all these problems.

Hey, if it was good enough for Einstein it should be good enough for you!

Reflecting the demand for a more viable and less toxic form of transportation, bicycles have become more and more popular among urbanites. «During rush hour, it’s faster than any other vehicle, and it’s cleaner than anything else, including electric vehicles,» insists Efrén Murillo, a bike rider form Mexico City.

Besides avoiding traffic, Mexico City residents are increasingly leaving their cars in the garage because of the ecological benefits that bicycles use offers. «One more cyclist means one fewer car,» Gonzalo Ramos asserts, another usual bike driver. «The bicycle is one of the many weapons we have at our disposal to combat some of the evils that afflict our planet, such as global warming and environmental pollution. Moreover, if more people rode bikes instead of driving, the obesity rate in our country [which has recently overtaken the United States to claim the title of the world’s fattest nation] would also be substantially reduced.»

Brigitte Bardot looked good on a bike (and anywhere else, for that matter). You’d look good, too!

Moreover, riding a bike can also save you a ton of cash.  Just in one year, a car driver can expect to spend an average of about $11,000 pesos on gas, while buying a good bike only costs approximately $2000 pesos. «A great benefit,» added Ramos, «given that since I’ve been riding a bicycle for short trips, or alternate it with public transportation and driving, I save about $1,800 pesos a month between parking fees and gasoline.»

Another benefit of trading in your car for a bike is health. Riding a bike, you can burn an average of about 500 calories every half an hour. In addition, it benefits cardiovascular function and decreases mortality rate by 40%. Stress relief is another benefit often cited by those who have chucked their steering wheel in favor of handlebars. «It lessens the stress produced by my profession and Mexico City’s traffic due to the release of endorphins,» declares Ramos.

Arthur Miller shows that you can ride a bike and still get the chicks, like Marilyn Monroe, no less!

Given that biking culture is just now starting to take off, few people adhere to or even recognize the kinds of the demands this culture makes, which include respecting the rules of the road and bike riders rights.  «I would say the only bad thing about being an urban cyclist is the safety or the lack thereof,» adds Murillo. «In Mexico City and throughout the entire country as a whole, there isn’t as yet a tradition of upholding bicycle riders rights.»

And although Mexico City has made great strides in this regard through the creation of special bycicle lanes, bike-friendly traffic signals, and the «Ecobici» bike-sharing service, many think that the government could – and must – do more. «The backing [by the government] is minimal and what little there is, much of it is, I fear, based on demagoguery,» Ramos laments. «I try not to generalize, but a lot of legislators and government officials have ‘gotten on’ a bike not so much to encourage cycling, but with the aim of gaining sympathy.»

Ok, so we can’t all be as pretty as Audrey Hepburn but, well, this is as good an excuse as any for a picture of her!

Although this «bike fever» has been growing significantly because of a wide variety of environmental and civic campaigns, there is still a long way to go before ours becomes a genuinely bike-riding society. «I would tell people to get out of their cars so they can live on a bike those couple of hours they lose stuck in traffic,» Ramos recommends. «We shouldn’t go to extremes, in that we shouldn’t just get rid of all cars, but they should only be used for driving long distances or for long trips on the highway.»

Maybe the greatest benefit to getting rid of our cars and fully embracing the nascent bike-riding culture consists of fomenting a better quality of life, given the aforementioned health, economic, and environmental benefits it offers. There is no doubt that bike-riding represents a surprisingly comprehensive solution to a wide range of problems associated with urban transportation and living. But we shouldn’t overlook the other advantages of riding a bike, like enjoying a beautiful day with the wind in your hair and the many adventures that can be found when, you know, you actually get out of your car and live.