Like a woman needs a fish...?

I watched the movie Cuba after Peak Oil this week, and found very interesting the fact that Cuba's initial response to the sudden loss of it's cheap, consistent oil supply (due to the collapse of the U.S.S.R.), was to import 1000's of Chinese bicycles.

There is an awful lot of conversation in the transition town community about making cities more walkable and transit friendly, however the reality is not lost on these groups that for many people, bikes may be their vehicle of choice in the face of more localized communities due to $3.00+ a litre gas.

I work in downtown Toronto, and can't help but notice the huge increase in the number of bikes on the road compared with when I lived here 4 years ago. Yes there is a fitness and lifestyle component, and certainly a “save the planet” ethos to riding your bike everywhere. Then there's that article the Star wrote several years ago (sorry, can't find the link) where they had a cyclist, a car, and a TTC rider go from Yonge and Queen to Yonge and Bloor, and the cyclist won hands down.

There is, however, that element of people who ride a bike because … well, once you have bought your bike (some of which can be had at second hand shops or kijiji for often as little as $20), it's free to ride. Notwithstanding the whole getting-soaked-in-wet-weather-and-arriving-hot-and-sweaty-in-good-weather thing. That, I guess, comes down to the whole 'The world is about to get a whole lot less convenient' thing.

I used to say in Hamilton, that you could always tell the people who rode bikes not out of choice, but out of necessity in two ways: 1) they almost never wear helmets, and 2) they often smoked while riding (clearly indicating it was not a health conscious choice).

One of my favorite stores in Hamilton (and I'm not even an avid cyclist, he's just a great guy) is Downtown Bike Hounds. Sean has positioned himself perfectly to a) equip Hamilton for the reality of bike commuting, and b) make a reasonable living in the meantime. His shop is packed with good quality refurbished bikes, and top of the line European commuter bikes. Exactly the type of bikes that will seem like a very cost effective option when oil hits $200+ a barrel.

So now that the snow seems to be gone, and the weather is warming up, I'm going to get a jump on the whole “bike commute” thing. I can easily walk to the GO bus stop, no problem, but starting Monday I'm going to start biking to the train station and catching that in, instead. I'm also going to get real used to making my Friday at 8:30 'Beer and Hard Cider' runs by bike.

Sure I'll be helping to husband what will be increasingly scarce resources, but mainly I'll be preparing myself (both in terms of physical ability and mindset) for the realities we're all going to face in the next 20 years.

What are you going to do?