ChiWhoBike #19
I know a lot of people who will not ride their bike, just out of fear, and sometimes they look at me like I’m a really irresponsible parent. That is hard to deal with. And sometimes I’m like, are they right? But it doesn’t feel right, now when I’m going in my car and picking her up from school - it just feels like I’m becoming part of the problem. And often I don’t have to feel that way. I can feel like, okay, we’re doing our part, not adding to traffic, not adding to pollution. And it’s good for us, it’s nice to be out. She would rather be on the bike than in the car. But that’s hard.
But on the days where she has an afterschool thing, it already looks like it’s midnight outside, and it’s just not safe with all this extra traffic on Oakley. I’ve talked to Alderman Burnett about trying to get Oakley made into a greenway, and he didn’t really seem receptive.
When there’s this really specific idea of who cyclists are, I think that discourages cycling, and it costs so much less to have a bike. We’re missing out on a way for people to get reliable and inexpensive transportation. And I think that shows with all the communities that really aren’t getting any investment with bike lanes in the city. Everyone would benefit from it. It’s better for everyone if you can do a short trip on your bike, and you probably don’t really need your car all the time.
I was super on the fence buying this bike, and it has been super life changing - best thing I’ve ever bought. I think if people are on the fence and they can do it, go for it because I bet you’ll use it.
