The Case for Commuting
The granola types over at the Sierra Club understand the bicycle a bit differently than most of us but they make a pretty good case for commuting. Maybe that isn’t so different. Think maybe the ladies of the safety committee might find a use for this page.–Corrie
Two-Wheeled Wonder
The glory of lungs, legs, and steel
March/April 2008THE BICYCLE IS A MASTERPIECE of physics. It harnesses human muscle power directly to that old-time marvel–the wheel–and yields a vehicle more energy efficient than any other devised, ever, by anyone. A human on a bicycle is more efficient (in calories expended per pound and per mile) than a train, truck, airplane, boat, automobile, motorcycle, skateboard, canoe, or jet pack. Cycling is more efficient than walking, which takes three times as many calories per mile. Pound for pound, a person riding a bike can go farther on a calorie of food than a gazelle can running, a salmon swimming, or an eagle flying.