Stephen's Personal Blog

Between its pints and dancers, the City of Roses sways heavily toward environmentalism. This sentiment weaves through a culture of fleece-covered yuppies, dreadlocked beat poets, hipster rock stars, and the homeless man who picks up trash in the neighborhood park. When a co-worker said he didn’t recycle, battle cries flew up from a four-cube radius. Somewhere all these groups merge to create a city recognized as one of the most environmentally-friendly, and, as a result, most bike-friendly cities in the country.

After just two years in the Pacific Northwest, I found myself making New Year’s Resolution 2007: Sell car, buy bicycle.

When I made the announcement, my parents worried that Portland hippies were ruining their daughter, but still didn’t believe I would take the plunge. Even my roommate, who supported the idea, figured this would go the way of “Do a handstand,” which ended with me sprawled on my new yoga mat, laughing at myself. I wasn’t coming into this adventure an urban biking expert. In fact, I hadn’t even sat on a bike in two years. When the car-free plan didn’t die in four days (like most of my resolutions), the questions started flying:

“Why on earth would you want to be without a car?”
“What would you do in the winter?”
“What if you get sick?”
“How will you carry groceries?”
“How will you bring us to the ocean if we visit in five years?”