Every Day is Bike-to-Work Day

Bike to Work Day is today here in the Boulder-Denver area. Folks get free breakfast and swag for taking anything but a car to do their jobs and other tasks today. One day out of the year. Could you do it?

Bike-to-Work-Day is a kind of joke around the Bonzuko household. We live in Boulder, work and school in Denver, and do not even own a car. Jenn doesn't even have a license. People think we're insane every other day of the year, except today. We are green commuters, though--maybe it's our way of making up for our computers being on all day...

It's a big lifestyle change to not drive ever. All your travel takes more time. Way more time. You have to make sure you carry everything on you for your entire day. You have to be ready for anything the elements give you. And if you're Stage Combat and/or Martial Arts teachers like we are, you have big cumbersome burdens to carry. And you do end up walking every day.

That's why we're so fit, actually. Let's tally the health benefits, shall we? A walk of approximately 10-20 minutes a day. Fresh air and moving blood. Two fewer people in cars eevryday helps the planet. Cheaper health insurance for living in a healthy city. Calm serenity in letting the bus driver do the traffic negotiation. Meditation every day. Have I forgotten any?

Anyway, happy Bike-to-Work-Day.

National Bike-to-Work Day

Here in Colorado, we have Bike-to-Work Week in June. But for the rest of the country, today is the day everyone should dust off their spandex, pump up their tires, and get a little cardio with their commute!

As we have said once or twice before, every day at the Bonzuko hombu is Bike-to-Work Day, or at least no-car day. Try biking at least partway to work today, and then ask yourself: could you do it every day? Could you live without your car? How would your life change?

Seeing so many car companies going under, and so many people (especially here in The Best Place to Live Well, according to Forbes) concerned about restoring a ruined environment, gives one pause. Is the car dead?

Image is of the Bonzuko family bike, loaded with groceries. Just a normal day of errands...

Earth Day

When was the last time we at Bonzuko wrote about not driving? Ah yes, it was Bike-to-Work day last summer. Well, today is Earth Day, when folks across America spend a moment to think about what they can do to improve the environment.

The Bonzuko hombu has done a couple things lately to be "greener"--using our wonderful computers and phones to explore non-paper ways of doing school and business. We brew our own beer, which way cuts down on our recycling-of-cans/bottles output.

But the main green thing we do here is something we've done since we met (and Jenn has done all her life): we don't drive, nor do we own a car.

Consider these questions for a moment today on Earth Day: what would your commute be like without your car? Where would you work if you had no car? What time would you have to have left your house today if you weren't driving to your destination? How much gasoline do you think you'll burn today? When was the last time you walked two blocks (a machine inside a gym doesn't really count)? Four blocks? A mile? What would you need to carry with you if you had no car today? How far can you carry five bags of groceries before you drop them? What kinds of errands would you be able to run today if you had no car, and how much time would it take you? How much will you pay in car insurance and parking this month, and what would you do with that money if you had it back?

Thanks to jaeger.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/msandifo.html for the image

Colorado Bike to Work Day

Well of course that's every day for Team Bonzuko. That is, using bicycles, bus, and other alternative transportation to get where we need to go. We described this lifestyle a couple times before, so go peruse those posts and give yourself a minute of contemplation, and a little more exercise, today at least. Hey, who knows--maybe you'll get to like it!

And yes, the Bonzuko bicycle looks like this very often.

(Hey, wonder if Fat Tire wants to sponsor us...)