What motivates me to Ride?

A recent post on one of my favorite sites, Commute By Bike, got my "wheels turning" so to speak in regards to why I prefer my bike over my car. This was echoed this morning as instead of "Springing Forward" I "Fell Back". Succumbing to the evil ways of the Daylight Savings Time change, I awoke to see the alarm clock that I had updated prior to going to sleep last night read 7:10. 7:10, that's only an hour and ten minutes later than I normally wake up on a work day and only about 5 minutes or so later than the time I normally leave. The first question to pop into my head was, "Do I drive?" and the first answer was, "Hell no! Just ride faster." Good answer. Since "I ain't got time to stink" (props to Jesse Venture in Predator, yeah I twisted the line a bit) I promptly jumped in the shower washed as fast as I could, got dressed, took my vitamins, packed what seemed to be a month's supply of foot into my messenger bag and I was off, only to turn back when I noticed that I didn't have my ID badge for work or so I thought. I couldn't, for the life of me, remember where I put that badge after my wet ride home on Friday but the only logical place I could imagine was my messenger bag so I said, "Screw it" in hopes to find the badge when I arrived at work which I did. About 10 minutes into my 7.9 mile ride I decided to call work and leave a voicemail to inform them that unless I could locate the hidden nitrox booster on my bike, I would most likely be a few minutes late. Well, only a few minutes couldn't have been a more accurate estimate. I arrived with a time of 28:21 on my bike computer and walked into the office only 5 minutes late, time that would easily be shaved off of my morning break.
So why did I do it? It's hard to pinpoint just one reason. Up until last Wednesday, I had garaged my bike and was driving for the last 2 months. I did this in favor of the Body For Life Challenge in fear of possibly "overdoing it" and burning muscle or stressing my body out, resulting in higher cortisol levels, causing me to store more fat. Well about last Wednesday I just couldn't take it anymore, with daylight savings time looming, the cost of gas on the rise and having recently been sick I couldn't have been more ready to be back in the saddle. So I did it and needless to say, I have yet to see any negative impacts in regards to the Body for Life, as I have dropped over 1% of body fat in the last week. I arrive at work in a better mood and at home in a better mood with much more energy, believe it or not. When I drive to work, I literally fight sleep on the way home.
Much like the rest of the country, the rising of cost of gas prices sickens me and I feel fortunate to be in a situation which allows me to do something about it which to me means not buy their damn gas. Yes I realize that maybe the lack of my contributions won't cause prices to fall and maybe the oil companies are so loaded with evil greed that if the entire world quit driving it wouldn't make a difference. But maybe my reasoning is a little more selfish because if they want to charge that much then maybe I don't want to buy their damn gas. I do believe in Global Warming but as always, remain a skeptic to some degree. I don't know if I'm 100% sold on the fact that emissions from our cars are a major contributing factor but I can tell you that regardless of my skepticism, I strongly feel the toxins being released into the air by our cars are not doing us or this home that we call "Earth" any favors.
A major factor that motivates me to get up and ride my bike to work every day is the thought that I'm depending on nobody but myself; no attendant at the pump, no cashier inside the gas station, no delivery truck driver, no oil exec, etc. There's something about the simplicity of man working with machine. And in the busy world that we live in where everyone is addicted to stuff, yours truly included, and everyone is so busy trying to get rich to afford more stuff, the euphoric state that is riding my bicycle is one that I would not trade for all the stuff in the world or the ability to arrive at work early every day. From a mental standpoint, if all of those who are in a position to curb their cars and ride a bike more, could only realize that this option and take the plunge, this world would be a better place.
While cars have their advantages in some situations I am thankful that in my daily travels the bike has the upper hand. There are many out there who don't realize the opportunity that lies before them and the advantages of it, I challenge you to explore your options and do your part, if not for the world, for yourself. Ride a bike!