Bike loans. No, not those bikes.

Thanks, cities of the Pacific Northwest. You keep making us look bad! First, you’re all about giving back, then you come around and show us all up with your fantastic bicycling culture. Last time I was on a bicycle was in my own community. I rode to our local Farmer’s Market (yeah, we’re cool too) to pick up some fresh produce. On the ride home, the tire went flat. No, both of them went flat. Suffice it to say, the bike doesn’t get used all that often. And it isn’t because of a lack of desire. Without hauling your bike on the back of the car, it’s difficult to ride anywhere in our area safely. Our bike lanes consist of a white line divided shoulder that looks about 12 inches wide. Naturally, this area intersects with vehicle turning lanes. Since I have a dark sense of humor, whenever I’m in a car which overlaps this “lane”, I comment how another cyclist was just hit by a car. It’s not funny by any means; it’s a sad commentary on our relationship with human-powered two-wheeled transportation. Down here in South Florida, it’s not uncommon to find people who feel bicycles should not even be on roads, and that they deserve to be run off them by aggressive drivers.

Because that makes sense. In a world with traffic jams, increasing fuel costs, carbon emissions, and obesity, we should obviously focus on demonizing the portion of the population which said: “No more”, and paved their own path on pedal power alone.

Commentary complete. Here’s how it connects with credit unions (because I can definitely geek out about the technology available for bicycle riding, but in the spirit of brevity, I won’t…today):

Those in the cycling community will read this and say, “well, yeah”, but for those of us not in the know, apparently a really nice bicycle is expensive. As in, not $75, expensive. Enthusiasts spend thousands of dollars on their bicycle.

continue reading »