Pedal Power Is In As Gas Prices Soar

Recently, we spied Diane Desenberg peddling her recumbent bicycle toward the Ringling Bridge. As luck would have it, we had our trusty Nikon CoolPix camera, managed to pull alongside Diane as she rode, and snapped this photographic evidence, all the while backing up eastbound traffic leaving the key. Feeling just a bit guilty in our gas guzzling SUV, as well as a tad curious, we emailed Diane and asked her if she would share the who, what, when, where, how and why she rides. And she graciously replied:

Diane Desenberg navigating St. Armand's Circle

In the Beginning

I am a bicycle commuter from way back. In high school, I opted to ride my bicycle three miles (uphill :-)) each way to and from school. Between the OPEC oil embargo, the alarming increase in air pollution in our major cities, the horrible traffic in Sarasota, and the fun of riding around with friends, the bicycle was my all-purpose partner in creating the "good life".  However, I was not a diehard.  I lived in Sarasota at the time and reverted to driving myself to school in the sweltering summer months of May and September.

Biking in India

For about six months during college, I lived in Pune, India, a city of about 1.5 million people. By far the majority of traffic was made up of bicycles. There were no traffic lights, but police officers were stationed atop pedestals in major intersections controlling the flow of traffic. This stint in India opened my eyes to the possibility of a bicycle-based trasnportation system.

Diane riding her Haluzak Leprechaun Recumbent bicycle

After College
When I graduated college, I returned the car my parents had given to me. I wasn't ungrateful so much as determined to try living a car-free life in Colorado Springs. This meant riding to work through rain and snow.  I wore my long underwear every day from December through March. I once met a cyclist who was undeterred by Minnesota winters; he showed me how to apply chains to bicycle tires, in order to plow through the snow; I was not quite that dedicated.

Automobile Phase

Tom and I did return to the world of car ownership. Bicycling the narrow roads of New England was challenging enough, but when the roads iced over, I avoided it entirely. And toting children long distances behind the back of a bicycle never appealed to me. But, we always had a hatchback, enabling me to throw my bike into the car, whenever I thought I might make use of it. 

Census by Bike

I now ride a recumbent bicycle, which I find to be easier on my back. Evidently, my Haluzak Leprechaun bicycle is quite recognizable; people tell me they see me all over town. And now that my children are off to college, I have returned to my bicycling roots.  Last summer I worked for the U.S. Census. I was the bicycling census worker.  Did you know that as a federal worker, I could theoretically be reimbursed for work-related airplane mileage, but not for bicyle mileage.

Preventing Global Chaos

With nice weather, I am inclined to ride everywhere. Riding a bicycle is truly a clean and efficient alternative to the personal automobile, a practical way to reduce traffic congestion and smog, and hopefully, help to prevent global climate chaos. With new-fangled, bright flashing lights available, I can ride safely at night as well. 

"Off and Running", make that "Pedaling"

So where do I like to ride around here?

Longboat Key has a great bike lane.  University, Fruitville (east of downtown), and Bahia Vista are nice east-west thoroughfares. Cocoanut, Tuttle, Lockwood Ridge, and McIntosh provide nice north-south passage. Stay away from Bee Ridge, Beneva, and 41. East of I75, Lakewood Ranch has nice wide roads with relatively little traffic. The trick is cobbling all these routes together to get where you want to go.  

Links

Here's a link to a nice Sarasota bicycle map put out by the Alliance for Responsible Transportation: http://www.sarasotagov.com/LivingInSarasota/Contents/PublicWorks/YGC/pdfs/bike_suitability_map.pdf. The sometimes controversial aspects of bicycle safety are another topic for another day. But, if you are afraid of cars, check out the segregated Legacy Trail. Here's a link with all the details: http://www.scgov.net/legacytrail/default.asp
 

The Bottom Line

Bicycling promotes physical fitness while helping to create a cleaner, more livable community. I often see our neighbor, Paul Plourde, riding down to the beach. Neighbor, Ed Balian rides a lot faster than I do up and down Longboat Key. And I see neighbor, Richard LaBrie two-wheeling it near and far. You don't have to ride far and you don't have to ride very fast to have people marveling at your physical prowess and environmental concern.  ~Diane Desenberg