Santa wants a Trek next year for chimney-hopping

     Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.

     Yes, Virginia, the coexistence of cyclists and drivers does exist, and can be achieved by a large, public high school in central New Jersey.

***

     Regarding the events of Wednesday, April 30: There is little to be said that has not yet been exhausted by printed publications, online medium, radio talk shows, and casual hallway conversation among students / faculty / parents. Five seniors did their research, spread the word as much as they could for a week or so, and hoped they wouldn't be the only people with helmet-hair come Wednesday morning.
     They took a chance, and were greeted by a respectably large gathering for the peaceful protest against the administration's lack of open-mindedness concerning the prospective installation of bike racks at BR.
     Despite, it would seem that many people, the press included, missed the point.

***

     Having seen some effects of our abuse on the environment already, and having used advanced technologies to predict what might happen in the near future (polar bears swimming around with nothing to grab onto? sad!), we're getting worried. Pollution, global warming, the works – a strain on the earth means a strain (and not just economically) for its population. We recognize this; we try to cover it with a band-aid.
     Green is the new black (according to some Vitamin Water bottles, which we all know is a source more valuable than Wikipedia). Green is cool, a trend that, like all trends, will thrive for a while before ultimately crashing into the background with a slim chance for reincarnation (skinny jeans, anyone?).
     Or will it become more than a fad? Has it already? Have our fears evolved into a force great enough to change our lifestyle permanently?
     Maybe the problem is – to quote the great Kermit the Frog – "It's not easy bein' green." At this point, we've become so caught up in this one-way (and automobile-congested) street that we've failed to notice the crumbling notions of what we thought was the American dream.
     "The auto-dependent transportation system in the United States is heading for a crash with the reality of limits," says Bill Wilkinson, executive director of the Bicycle Federation of America and New Jersey native. "We are close to the limits of available space, available resources, highway capacity for motor vehicles […], and the carrying capacity of our ecosystems."
     Whether or not we can see it, we're maxing out. We need to find a long-term solution, stop treating the symptoms.

***

     Gurdon S. Leete remarked, "It is curious that with the advent of the automobile and the airplane, the bicycle is still with us. Perhaps people like the world they can see from a bike, or the air they breathe when they're out on a bike."
     There was a time, we might recall, when we did not have such a destructive impact on the world around us. Prehistoric, probably, when there was little to distinguish between us and our fur-covered cousins. The one thing dividing us was imagination, the ability to fathom something unreal, something not there, a feeling or fleeting emotion, a desire to create. And to change.
     There was a time, we imagine, when we did not destroy our environment because we could not. We could only dream.
     It may not be in human nature to destroy, necessarily, but it is in human nature to survive (and to the highest possible standards of living?). However, until this point in the timeline of humanity, these things have gone hand-in-hand. We have destroyed not for the sake of destruction, but to live and live well.
     So is this the world Leete mentions, this world we can only see perched on the seat of a bike?
     The self-proclaimed "Bicycling Bandits" (Kat Dransfield, Adam Ginsberg, JP Hennessey, Talia Perry, Michelle Slosberg) composed a letter to Dr. Roccobono and presented it on the day of the incident. The opening paragraph of this letter addresses the environmental element of the ride's purpose:
     "This year the Bridgewater-Raritan School District has taken admirable steps towards creating a greener community. Along with becoming an EnergyStar partner with the goal to reduce energy costs by 10%, we have hired an energy consultant and created several new environmental initiatives. The high school's new recycling program, which is mostly student run, is more effective than ever before. Students and faculty have also cooperated in efforts to turn off lights and computers when not in use. Interest in living sustainably has grown admirably and is demonstrated by a variety of clubs such as the Environmental Club, Recycling Club, Greenpeace Club, and many community service groups in addition to extensive enrollment in environmental science classes."
     Although BRHS has taken many steps towards becoming a more environmentally stable school, we also take steps backwards on a daily basis by driving gas-guzling cars, leaving computer monitors on, forgetting to flip off the lights, etc. Either you're in, or you're out; this is one of those bothersome all-or-nothing situations that make politicians dance in their seats.

***

     But why the bike? Stuart S. Wilson writes in Scientific American:
     "When one compares the energy consumed in moving a certain distance as a function of body weight for a variety of animals and machines, one finds that an unaided walking man does fairly well (consuming about .75 calorie per gram per kilometer), but he is not as efficient as a horse, a salmon, or a jet transport. With the aid of a bicycle, however, the man's energy consumption for a given distance is reduced to about a fifth (roughly .15 calorie per gram per kilometer). Therefore, apart from increasing his unaided speed by a factor of three or four, the cyclist improves his efficiency rating to No. 1 among moving creatures and machines."
     Number one is a pretty strong claim, but even the most efficient of things is only as efficient as it is used.

***

     Similar to the environmental issues as a whole, bicycling and the relationship between cyclists and motorists is dependent on what everyone does, not just a handful of people. In an Argus-Courier online poll for the Petaluma School District (September 2007), one parent, when asked whether or not these children should be allowed to ride or walk to school, responded, "Everyone needs to break the cycle. Less traffic makes it easier to walk and bike, justifies expenditures on additional bike and pedestrian facilities, creates more awareness of pedestrians and bicyclists in the right-of-way, and creates a more livable city for all of us!"
     The "just keep spinning" mentality corresponds with the nature of cycling, of course, but can be applied to the movement itself, too. It's all about momentum. You stop cranking and you fall sideways.

***

     Let's aim high, for a minute.
     The most bicycle-friendly city in the world (according to numerous creditable sources) is Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The compact nature of the city's narrow streets don't offer much for the driver of the smallest car, but bicycles and pedestrians can maneuver comfortably. The geography of the city – relatively flat – is another contributing factor.
     Obviously, we can't start from scratch when it comes to planning the city of Bridgewater and surrounding areas. We can't tear up the vital veins and arteries mindlessly and start anew without complete chaos ensuing. We can't level the earth to make the goings easier for pedal-powered vehicles.
     So what can we do? One of the real reasons Amsterdam works as a bike-easy metropolis is that forty percent of the traffic consists of cyclists. With such a high cyclist to motorist ratio, the environment is automatically safer for cyclists. Drivers are more aware of their presence and act accordingly. Bikers are less likely to panic and make a bad decision when encountering a car six times their size.
     Getting unnecessary motor vehicles off the road and cyclists on the road is something we can do, something not overambitious (forty percent is a little high as a preliminary goal). Students, specifically, are an easy group to target. According the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the highest risk of motor vehicle crashes comes from sixteen- to nineteen-year-old drivers; this age range is four times more likely to initiate a crash than older drivers. Accidents occur in the senior parking lot at least once a week, as minor as they may seem.

***

     Safety is a major concern not just because the school administration cares for our well-being, but for legal reasons, too. If someone was injured on or near school property while riding their bike, who's to blame? In a letter to Dr. Schilder and the Board of Education, the BR Student Cyclists (group formed after the initial Bike to School Day) addresses the issue of liability:
     "The current policy of Bridgewater-Raritan High School endorses driving to school by its recent expansion of the Senior Parking Lot for the 2007-2008 school year. This parking lot is host to numerous traffic accidents on a weekly basis. There have also been countless accidents throughout the year that students faced on their way to and from school. These numerous mishaps on the road are dangerous to the student drivers. The high school administration is not responsible for student driving accidents that occur to and from school, as well as those that happen on school property. This policy could easily translate to bicyclers as well, should bike racks be installed on school property. The presence of bike racks would therefore help to minimize the risk student drivers pose to themselves and everyone else on the road."
     A major cause for accidents involving cyclists is lack of education about the rules of the road (right-of-way, placement of the cyclist, turning signals, etc.). The public has gotten used to roads without cyclists and will need to be reminded how to interact. Legally, a person on a bike has the same rights as one in a car. However, laws can be confusing and sometimes contradictory (i.e. the "stay as far as possible to the right" rule). By reeducating before reintroducing the cyclist to these suburban roads, crashes and other scuffs (and animosity between cyclists and motorists) can be minimized.
     Motorist-cyclist collisions are not unknown to Kat Dransfield, senior and biking advocate:
     "In August of 2006 I was hit by a car while riding my bicycle. The car's projected speed was 35 miles per hour when I made contact with the vehicle, at which time I was thrown up onto the hood of the car, then thrown off onto the pavement until I skidded to a stop approximately 15 feet away from the site of the initial impact. Bridgewater police speculated that the reason I was not killed or seriously injured was because I was athletic enough to stiffen my body up prior to the collision with the vehicle. Regardless of how lucky I was to sustain only minor injuries, the accident was enough to teach me and the drivers involved a valuable lesson. The accident was completely preventable; had the drivers and I been informed about how to safely co-occupy the road, the incident would likely have not occurred. This personal experience has been my primary motivation for my advocating for a cooperative, practical, and safe approach to alternative transportation."

***

     In his article, "Nonmotorized Transportation: The Forgotten Modes", Wilkinson outlines the major potential problems for moving something from one place to another minus a car: bulky transport (sheer size or inconvenient shape of whatever needs to be moved), lack of flexibility of time, long distances (problems increase when combining this with the preceding issue), sprawl (poor arrangement of highway construction and urban planning), and limitations presented by your alternate mode of transportation.
     How does this affect the students of Bridgewater-Raritan?
     In their second letter to the administration, the Environmental Club wrote:
     "Students in these groups and many others have expressed interest in riding their bicycles to school as a convenient, inexpensive, healthy, and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. A large portion of students live close enough to school to bike and hundreds have expressed interest. Unfortunately, though, the high school currently has no bicycle racks and students who ride to school have no safe place to lock their bikes. To provide for the needs of bicyclists, the Environmental Club offered to donate bike racks to the school but was refused on the grounds that bicycling is potentially dangerous and by accepting the gift, the district would be condoning bicycling and be liable if students got in accidents. The school condones seniors driving to school by having a senior parking lot, yet the school is not liable for any automobile accidents. Legally a bike is a vehicle and is subject to the same traffic laws as a car; therefore since the administration is not liable for automobile accidents it likewise cannot be responsible for accidents caused by cycling. If necessary, students could sign a biking contract that would include clauses such as wearing a helmet and arriving at school before 7AM, when heavy traffic begins."

***

     Ride Your Bike To School Day 2008 (perhaps the first of many? or maybe there will be a day in the not so distant future when this day seems as irrelevant or redundant as Drive Your Car Or Take A Bus To School Day) may not have resulted in the installment of bike racks, the original goal. However, it was a success in that it spread awareness about the environment and the safety issues of biking to school. Despite what some people have said, the idea of this peaceful protest was not to show how many people will potentially ride to school, nor was it to serve as a rebellious senior prank. It was to prove that people are interested in changing their environment, that people are willing to sacrifice the easier route (taking a car) to ride their bikes, that people can learn the rules of the road and safely transport themselves, that this solution could, with a little tweaking, work.
     BR Student Cyclists are currently working with other administrative departments in the area to address the concerns that have arisen from this event (i.e. increasing safety of alternative transportation).
     No biking! Thank god - people will ride and ride forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, bikes will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.