Better mileage than a Prius, smaller chance of malfunctioning accelerator pedal.
Allow me, if you will, to fawn for a minute, if you will, over my bicycle. If you will.
My carbon footprint has become something of a small marvel in my time here in Germany. My electric bill at the apartment runs 15 bucks a month. I recycle like you wouldn’t believe. I hang my clothes to dry after a run through the eco-friendly wash cycle. Also, I ride a bike – everywhere.
When I first got to Germany and was handed a freebie, off-brand, second-hand bicycle, riding the thing felt downright childish. Years of driving a car had jaded me and relegated the riding of bicycles to something I did from the ages of 6-15, and then only when the weather was optimal. Well, such is no longer the case.
A bicycle, as I have come to realize, is your passport to a larger, more wonderful world of transportation. Forget waiting on the bus for 8 minutes (which is still pretty darn convenient) – you can hop on your Huffy now and be there in 8 minutes! You can pedal right past the Jet gas station and laugh at the people paying 1.20 Euro per liter to fill up their tiny cars (although your max speed on the Autobahn may not earn you the envy of your friends – probably better to avoid major highways on your bike altogether). Insurance is not required. In fact, accidents in general are much easier on your budget with a bike. A slip on the ice in your car, for example, may run you $600 for a new bumper and the cost of a new mailbox (hypothetically), while a slip on the ice on your bike will cost you no more than a cold butt until you get back on and pedal it off.
On top of all that, I have developed these incredible quadriceps whose form would – if weather here allowed for shorts – inspire drivers and pedestrians to greater levels of leg-based fitness. I’m the muscular envy of my teenage self.
I never thought I would be riding my bicycle in sub-freezing temperatures as an adult, but here we are. My bike is good stewardship – it allows me to do my campus minister job with less money – and that’s something worth supporting.