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Written by: Jeff Stevenson

Right now people in the industrialized world are facing two very grave problems: obesity and a growing scarcity of oil. Compounding this problem is the new food shortage brought about, in part, by the conversion of food cropland to bio-fuel crop production. Most people feel powerless to help, but there is one thing that we can do: Ride our bicycles to work and on our errands, instead of taking the car.

If everyone would agree to ride their bikes to work one day per week we could cut oil consumption by as much as 10-15%. No one would argue that riding a bike burns more calories than driving the car. Although popular politically right now, most bio-fuels consume more energy than they produce. We would be much better to eat those bio-crops then use our own energy to transport us around.

A lot of people now live in cities that are increasing congested with traffic as our population continues to soar. During the rush hours, commutes of up to ten miles can often go faster on the bicycle than in a car. The physical exercise also helps the transition from work to home, and it is much harder to be stressed out with some good physical exercise.

Like it or not, the era of cheap gas is gone forever. If you need a little extra motivation just calculate every car trip you take in terms of the gas money it consumes. For example, if it’s a three mile round trip down to the local grocery store and back, and your car gets 20 miles to the gallon, you’ll use about one sixth of a gallon of gas, or about 60 cents actual cost. Buy your self an ice cold soda as a reward, and throw the extra dime into the piggy bank.

So spread the word. Make it a movement! Bicycle to work one day a week and do your part to cut back obesity and the overuse of oil and precious cropland.