Tuesday Travels: A Green Night Out by Bike

This past weekend I got together with some friends for dinner at their house. Between the wok, the wine and desert I was not even thinking green but as we pedaled our way home, somewhere between midnight and morning, I realized that we had done more for ourselves and the planet by making the simple decision to take the bikes.

Biking is very popular here in North Rhine Westphalia – the social acceptance is high and people tend to think bicycle before car. So without really thinking about the car me and my sweetheart got on our bikes, picked up two friends on their bikes, swung over to another friend’s house who joined us on his old bike and before you knew it we were five healthy adults riding along to dinner out.

The roundtrip was about 10 miles and on Saturday night these miles were pretty cold but we were all bundled up, chatting and keeping warm with a little exercise. Here’s a roundup of how biking made it better:

• A little indulgence: The hostess has family in Spain and had a fantastic lineup of after dinner drinks that everyone was free to try because nobody was getting behind the wheel, just the handlebars.
• Burn off the calories: Biking around burns about 175 calories an hour and that’s at a casual pace. Add in some cold temps and the legs move a little faster burning even more calories. I figure that extra piece of cake and the nightcap I had were both a wash.
• Save money on gas: The round trip by car would’ve burned through about 10 miles worth of gas which would’ve cost a couple of bucks. A small amount but still money I didn’t have to spend and over time, with enough bike nights out, a couple bucks adds up to some real savings.
• No Need For Neutral: If we had taken a car, our night out would’ve contributed somewhere between 10-15 lbs of CO2. Riding by bicycle was a no emissions deal so there’s no need to even think about Carbon Offsets.

Get around:

• Community Bike Share Programs
• Map of Community Bike Share Programs
• Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign
• San Francisco Thinks Big on Bikes
• Top 6 Sexiest Cycles on Transportation Tuesday at Inhabitat