Pedal Power

The US Chamber of Commerce says more bicycles have been sold than cars over the past 12 months. Now there's some good news. People are voting with their feet, pedals and dollars. "Bicycle sales are near an all-time high with 19 million sold last year -- close to the 20 million sold during the oil embargo in the early 1970s," said Blumenthal, whose association is based in Boulder in the western state of Colorado. It gives me a vicarious sense of pride to know that, though it took gas prices topping two then three dollars a gallon, people in America are starting to wake up to something that is known throughout the rest of the world. Bicycles aren't in the research phase - we can have alternative transportation today.
The kids at my school always want to know where my car is. "Why don't you have a car, Mr. Caven?" I tell them that I do have a car, and I use it when I need to carry something bigger than I can strap on the back of my bike. I start to tell them about how I don't have to pay for gas, or insurance, and their eyes start to glaze over. I tell them that I'm not polluting. "Yeah, but don't you want a car?" they ask. I'm getting exercise too - but it's too late, they're off to get in their PS2 time.
In 1979, Neal Israel got together with Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman from Firesign Theater to make a movie about America's near future. The United States government is virtually bankrupt and in danger of being foreclosed on by a group of Native Americans, now owners of the massive Nike Corporation. A desperate President (Chet Roosevelt, played by John Ritter) decides to make a last-ditch effort to save the country by raising money with a telethon. The overly unctuous host of the telethon presides over such performances as Meat Loaf battling a raging car, and Jay Leno boxing his mother. People don't drive their cars anymore, they just live in them. Those who have jobs jog or ride their bikes to work. Elvis Costello even shows up for a song.
That was funny back in 1979. Now it seems like thinly veiled irony as Native American casinos continue to spring up across the country and Jay Leno continues to pander nightly to the lowest common denominator. It's not exactly science fiction anymore. We have become all-too efficient at organizing telethons to raise money for disaster relief.
Still, I will always have a fond memory of the Valentine's Day some years back when my wife presented me with my new bicycle. She said, "We may never own a new car, but we can own a new bike."