Every holiday season, instead of receiving a bonus or gift from my employer, I get lots of days off;  three weeks to be exact. Of course, I don’t get paid for these days off, so in my case it’s not a time for joyous celebration. However, I do enjoy spending time with my family and catching up on extraneous projects. Yet, this holiday season, U.S. Ikea employees will be receiving a bicycle. Oh, how I love bicycles. Too bad I don’t work for Ikea.

Now, I’m a big proponent of bicycles; they are energy efficient in that it takes little exertion to move quite quickly. Bicycling is a great way to get in shape, or keep in shape, and you can save money on fuel. It’s also a fun activity for most.  However, as the residents of New York City are finding out through their expansion of their bicycle lanes, just because you “build it,” it doesn’t mean “they will come.”

So, with 12,400 bicycles on Ikea’s give-away list, does that mean that all of these employees will begin pedaling to work? The cynic in me is saying, probably not. But, “Why?”, is the more important question.

A few years ago, when gas prices skyrocketed to almost $5 a gallon, I began cycling to work myself. I couldn’t bear paying the price per gallon in fuel to drive only 10-miles round trip to work and back. I remember enjoying bicycle riding as a pre-car teenager and decided a bicycle would be a smart way to travel around town. I found a comfortable bike and began pedaling to and from Starbucks, work, and school. I really enjoyed riding, even in a city that lacks bicycle lanes and is entirely car-obsessed.

However, a few months later, gas prices started to sink back to more “normal” and reasonable levels. I still continued to ride my bike, but I found myself opting to drive for reasons such as, “It’s too windy,” or “I have too many errands today.” All of a sudden, I went from cycling 180 miles a month to a pitiful 50 miles if I was lucky.

At first, I blamed the lack of bicycle lanes on my decrease in riding. But I had found plenty of alternative streets to ride on that weren’t heavily trafficked, so I knew that wasn’t the real reason for my lack of riding. I then decided it was the weather that kept me off my bicycle. Yet, I live in sunny California where the whether is mild most of the year and a light-weight coat is all one needs to stay warm.

I knew the real reason, but it was hard to admit it. I was LAZY. Lazy because it was all too easy to hop in my car and drive to work. Lazy because it wasn’t costing an arm and a leg to fill up my tank. Lazy because there just aren’t many other bicyclists riding on the streets subconsciously encouraging me to ride my own bike.

Once I realized that I was the problem, I decided I wanted to fix it. I’ve begun riding my bike more often, but I still find myself making excuses for not riding as much as I could. So, what is the reason more people, like me, don’t ride their bikes? It’s not the lack of bicycle lanes and it’s not the weather; it’s the fact that it’s just too easy to drive. Cheap gas has created this problem, which has also created suburban sprawl (another topic all together). If our gas prices were double the amount, more people would have to figure out alternative modes of transportation, and the bicycle would be one option. An example where bicycle riding is more prevalent is in European cities where the cost of gas is much more expensive; it makes more sense to ride.

I’m not necessarily saying we need a huge increase in the cost of gas as there would be a trickle down effect that would increase the cost of practically everything. What I am saying, is that convenience and easy access to low cost fuel has made us, or at least me, lazy.

So will the 12,400 employees of Ikea begin riding their bikes to work? What do you think?

I’ve been feeling lazy lately. Instead of pedaling my way to work on the majority of week days, I’ve been tapping the gas pedal instead. I can blame it partially on the weather, the cooler weather makes it more difficult to get going in the morning, which makes me run out of time for cycling. Of course, this week we finally had some much-needed rain, and that too curtails my riding. If only I could figure out a way to ride in the rain without getting wet!

Wednesday, I rode to work after a rainy beginning to the week. I felt much more alert and ready to teach my 24 students how to write an expository piece on city wildlife. Yesterday, after driving a mere 5 1/2 miles, I felt sleepy and forced myself to look peppy. I quietly told myself on Wednesday, that I would ride my bike again on Friday. But of course,  I woke up to a rainy morning and just can’t justify getting soaked on the way to school.

So how do cyclists in cities like Copenhagen do it? Well, for one they have an awesome bicycle infrastructure. Their bike paths are clearly marked and safely separated from vehicles. Another bonus, when a large number of people commute by bike it encourages others to do the same. I know that if a few hundred people were also on the streets bicycling to and fro, it would motivate me even more (I’m also secretly competitive so I would be out there peddling more often!)

Most cyclists in Copenhagen commute roughly between 2 to 8 miles a day (I found a very rough estimate in kilometers and estimated it into US miles, so it’s not exact). In contrast, most people in the United States including myself, commute a little further every day. When I ride to work, I end up riding a total of 11 miles round trip. Due to the distance of my commute it takes me about 45 minutes, and in inclement weather exposes me to the elements for a longer period of time. My one experience riding to work in light rain left me slightly drenched from the knees down. My rain attire only covered me from my head to my thighs since I needed to move my legs for pedaling.

Until I find the ultimate rain gear or humongous umbrella to cover my body while riding, I will continue wimping out. So, kudos to those mighty Nederlanders and their riding through rain, sleet, or snow! If you’re interested in city cycling, check out Cycle Chic, it’s a really inspiring bicycle site from Copenhagen.