I Have Long Striven To Go Lightly

...Ever since my Mercury Meteor caught fire the last time and died in Fresno, Ca. Say, 1972, nearly fifty years ago. The Oil embargo and resulting gas shortages of '72 also help encourage me to stop participating in the 'Gas up and go' lifestyle. My bicycle was my best friend and I could go anywhere on a hearty lunch and a good attitude. I practiced 'carlessness for nearly 15 years...moving from a lowland college town to a mile high mountain town necessitated getting back into the motoring culture that most Californians practiced. You had to gather firewood and drive through snowy winters just to survive. Eventually we accepted a hand-me-down TV and bought cell phones. Now I own two motor vehicles and forced-air heating. Yet, I still strive to lessen my impacts on the planet and my fellow citizens. The bicycle is still key and I have invested my life's work into encouraging as many people as possible to ride one to work and for the 'health of it". Bicycle materialism can become excessive but the impacts are far less than the purchase of a motorboat and a Polaris swamp buggy or a snow machine. Ah America!