Thursday, May 15, 2008

Be kind to your feathered friends! Bike to Work

My friend Casey at Volunteer Boston wrote an informative post about the joys of biking to work, and included lots of helpful information about participating in Mayor Menino's Bay State Bike Week. For inspiration click on the image for the background story on how he got started.


I recommend reading Casey's entire post, Biking to Work in Boston - My first time. Here are some highlights:

"The ride to work was a breeze. I concentrated on shifting, signaling, and avoiding potholes (my car could take them, but I don't know that my rear end could). I think it helped that most of the trip was downhill. I felt the breeze in my hair, sweat just a little at some tiny uphills, and thought, "wow, this isn't bad."When a Prius passed me, I laughed. "You think you're green? Ha!"I got to work safely. Believe it or not, the ride took just about the same amount of time as driving - I'd say about 10 minutes with traffic lights, etc. Maybe even quicker. After all, on my bike I can coast up to the front of every intersection. I had but a few drops of sweat on my brow. I would have felt comfortable throwing on my work clothes and heels without showering - I think I sweat more climbing the 3 flights of stairs to my office."

Tomorrow's 'Bike Day' marks the end of Bay State Bike Week, but it's not too late to get started. Casey gives some really helpful information on local and national biking resources so check it out even if you're not from Boston.

Naturally I support any type of green initiative since it helps make the world a better place for birds (oh and people too). Way back in March 2007 I created the post Test Your Knowledge of Global Warming and included some really interesting insights from a 1907 field guide for birds about the impact of human activity on bird populations:

"There are parts that each one of us can play in lessening the unnatural dangers that lurk along a bird's path in life. Individually, our efforts may amount to but little, perhaps the saving of the lives of two or three, or more, birds during the year, but collectively, our efforts will soon be felt in the bird-world."

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