IRideInProtest.com

Do you have any clue how many cycling enthusiasts there are around you? I have always been aware of a few in my local area, but the longer I ride in protest the more cycling enthusiasts I meet.

I knew I wasn’t the only cyclist doing distance rides, but I did not realize how many of us there actually are. Nearly daily, I hear of another serious cyclist I was not aware of, and most are doing rides a lot longer than mine.

So why am I making such a big deal about my own cycling experience? Because I am fit to be tied over the recent rise in gasoline prices and I feel a need to express my frustration over this whole situation… and I am doing so through my cycling and with this blog.

I hope you will join me, by subscribing to my RSS feed and by cycling yourself.

I attempted to produce a Tezaa poll, but like taking polls, I could not find just the right words with which to pose just the right questions, without creating several dozen questions. So, in your own words — tell us why you ride.

If you see a comment/reply that sounds like you… post a “ditto” if you prefer.

Thanks for sharing…

Do you remember when you first took to your bicycle, it was so you could be like one of the big kids? Then, as soon as you mastered the bike, it quickly became your primary mode of transportation, because you could get to where you wanted to go a lot faster than walking. Then you got your drivers license, and the bicycle was parked, probably for several years. For some of us it was stored away for eons, until the family Doctor suggested that we “…get a little exercise”.

And yes, it’s easy for someone else to tell you what it is you should be doing with your life, and it is quite common that people do. And, I suppose this may seem no different, so I won’t tell you that you should ride (though you should ), I will simply share with you some of the benefits of cycling, and maybe a few drawbacks, as minuscule as they are.

Well, the time has come to consider the advantages of digging that trusty two-wheeler out of mothballs. Here are just a few reasons why.

The Monetary Benefits (…read more)

I am a US citizen, who like many of you, is fed up! Fed up, with the rising costs of gasoline and diesel fuel and the effects those increases are having on food prices and everything else, we need for sustenance. I am fed up and I am speaking out! I am speaking out through this blog and my through my cycling.

Cycling has recently become my primary form of recreation, but also my primary form of transportation to and from both my full time and part time jobs and just about anywhere else I need to go. The number one reason I ride…high gasoline prices! Yes, riding bike saves money, but, more specifically… I ride in protest of high gasoline prices!

Although I have continued cycling over the years, ever since I was a teen, my most recent return to the bicycle started out last fall when gasoline hit $3/gallon US. At that time, I parked my truck and refused to drive even one mile, as long as gas stayed above the $3 mark. For a short time after hitting the three-dollar mark, it did dip below that into the $2.80 range, until this spring. Well, as we all know that dip was only temporary. This spring (’08) gasoline, once again hit the three-dollar mark and continues to rise almost weekly, to $4.00 and higher! The current consensus is that gasoline will hit $5.00/gallon by Labor Day, September 1. (see …Will This Move You To Cycling Action?)

I absolutely refuse to pay those prices! I cannot say that I do not buy any $4.00+ gasoline, but I buy a whole lot less $4.00 gasoline than I did $2.00 gasoline. I will admit that my work commute is less than five miles a day, both ways to two jobs, but even at that, I was spending about ten dollars per week before when it was in the $2.00 range. Now with gas where it is and cycling to work I spend about twenty dollars per month, give or take. That calculates to an approximate 34.6% reduction (gallons) in my own personal gasoline consumption, which translates to a whopping 46% cash savings, taking into account the increases!

The cash savings alone is enough for me to ride, but to heap upon that the frustration I feel of being at the mercy of uncontrollable, out of control external forces…it’s enough to make me shout… “I ride in protest!”

I believe you are frustrated over this situation as well, and I hope your frustration leads you to join in this protest, to the point of taking action. Take action, get on your bike and ride, and refuse to buy any more gasoline than you absolutely must. It may not accomplish any more than giving you a sense of personal control over your own life… but who knows for certain the impact it may have.

For now, “I ride in protest!” I hope you will too!

Ed Willard

From The Wall Street Journal:

Oil’s historic ascent from $100 to nearly $150 a barrel in just six months is lending weight to a far grimmer prediction: Crude could reach $200 a barrel by the end of the year.

Oil at that price would wreak deeper havoc on the world’s airlines and automobile industries.

In the U.S., $200 crude would push the price of gasoline to well over $6 a gallon, causing commuters to alter their driving habits more sharply than they have already, while putting extreme strains on large sectors of the U.S. economy. In Europe…

(read more)

(This is an updated version of my first post. It remains the same in spirit with updated dates, etc.)

Before the summer is out, I am planning to make a bike trip from Shelbyville, IN to Florence, KY where my youngest Grandchild, Ariya Claire lives with her parents, my son Luke and his wife Sarrah.

Although I make my daily commute(s) via bicycle, I feel compelled to make this trip as an extended part of my “protest of high gasoline prices”. I suppose I feel this compulsion, somewhat because my “commute” is only less than five miles daily. And when anyone asks how far I ride, I feel, although they don’t verbally express it, that my short commute is justified for me since my ride is a very short one, and at the same time it is a justification for them not to ride, since their ride would possibly be considerably longer. It is very easy for someone to dictate to others what they should or should not do when they themselves do not do as they say. Personally, if my personal commute were as much as 10 miles one-way I would still commute via bicycle!

I suppose I feel that a two day 176-mile (that’s 88 miles in one day ) trip may give my opinion about why everyone should ride, a little extra weight. (See my post, “Why You Too Should Ride” COMING SOON!).

I feel that anyone who commutes five miles or less, one way, is a prime candidate for a bicycle commute.

Using the map to the right you can view any portion of my planned route. Left click/hold and drag to move along the route. To get a closer look zoom in and out using the plus or minus signs in the upper right corner of the map.

The greatest challenge I found in laying out this route was getting across the Ohio River on a bicycle. Bike or pedestrians cannot travel the route we travel by auto. I finally located the Anderson Ferry that crosses the Ohio between Cincinnati and Constance, KY. When I contacted them about a schedule, they replied, “Just show up, we’ll get you across as quickly as possible, in less than 15 minutes”. I thought that was reasonable.

Between now, June 3, and actually completing this ride I will be doing a few training rides to build up to this 88-mile trip (176-mile round-trip). I plan to make this trek by August 1, weather permitting. (Due to the limited vacation time that is available to me now, I will most likely be making this trip the weekend of Labor Day September 1.)