Sitting Duck 101

Bikes over cars...

I've been asked numerous times why I've chosen a bike rather than a car as my primary mode of transport. So, I thought it will be more efficient to make a list. So here it is:

1. Unless riding bicycles, walking or using the public transport are options, the bike's a whole lot more environmentally friendlier than a car. We should all do our bit, shouldn't we?
   
2. Its less expensive to operate, as in fuel, mechanical wear and tear, oil change, road tax, etc... More importantly, no toll charges (that's a big deal in KL!) and free parking (most of the time). Nice, huh?
3. Inconsiderate and rude car drivers are really annoying. KL's full of them, cutting queues, closing the gap between them and the car in front whenever you try to change lanes unto theirs, changing lanes for the sake of getting ahead (it doesn't really work - trust me - unless you're on the bike) and being plain reckless. If you're driving and trying hard not to be like them, its impossible not to take notice of the car that's cutting the queue in front of you. If you don't join them being rude, its difficult to fight off the feeling that you've been taken advantage of. That's a situation I avoid like a plague. Being on the bike, one is shielded a little more from this problem. The days I have to drive a car to work, I'm usually in a fowl mood unless I travel before 7am.
4. Its less of an elitism riding a bike than a fancy car. In the place where I dwell, some of the folks here tend to associate wealth to the price of the car one drives. Its gotten so bad that some of us practically worship luxury car owners. Owning an expensive car and elitism is just hard to divorce. I just can't see myself being caught up in another one of life unnecessary spiral traps. Bikes are relatively affordable. Both in the sense of buying the vehicle as well as maintaining it. My bike's only RM 12K to own. Try to buy a car in Malaysia for that price. Furthermore, top of the end sports bikes are less than RM 80K brand new. Compared to sports cars, its at least 8 to 15 times cheaper. I feel a lot more comfortable when I participate in something that is more accessible, believing in anti-elitism. Same reason to run. No fancy club memberships required.
5. You don't have to endure excessive chatting, small talk, nagging, complaints about the obvious and inevitable or even stomach the times when you get the cold silent treatment. That's what full-face helmets are designed for - besides protection, they're engineered to take out the noise. No matter who's with you, its just you and the road. Don't even have to think about the next cool thing to say to impress your date. Wear ear-plugs for added effect!
6. It may be actually good for your back. Well, that's not exactly factual but we do know that driving cars are a cause of back problems. Doctors just don't have enough data for bikers yet. However, whenever I drive a car over prolonged hours at a time, my back do act up, something I don't experience on a bike. My orthopedic specialist did say that the bike might be good for my back. I swear, he's a real doctor and a pretty good one too!
7. Err... it looks cool? Well, at least from the perspective of the biker. Once, on the home-bound biking trip, my friend and I stopped at the Sungai Buloh rest area for a drink. We spotted an all women group chatting and decided to park our bikes at a noticeable distance. The first part worked. We and our bikes got their attention all right. However, as we took off our helmets and walked away from our bikes, the ladies' attention was still fixated on our bikes rather than on us. Hmmm... maybe taking off our helmets shouldn't have been part of the plan. Anyway, biking does some good for yer' soul:
   
• Life's precious and more fragile than we like it to be. Can't help feeling vulnerable without the outer protective shell of a car body. A care-free ride down the open road yet being cautious and alert. The paradox of being responsible yet not to take life too seriously.
• There's little storage space on the bike. It helps me to remember not to hog or unnecessarily acquire material things. Junk management.
• Control your power. Even for an old 1991 750cc street-bike like mine, thats about 70 horses pushing a mass just over 200 kilos. That's a power to weight ratio of about 0.3582 HP/kg. One can effortlessly reach 100 km/h under 10 secs or less. Power like this is outright dangerous if poorly controlled.
  
• Focus and attention. Its literally a matter of life and death if one has the inability to stay focus while riding. Being focused for extended periods of time has its benefits, like meditating, it has a calming effect after.
  
• Cherish the environment. Without the familiar air-con we get in cars, bikers get to smell EVERYTHING, both the good and the bad, all along the journey. The sweet smell of flowers, the curry cooking in a pot, the rubbish trucks, the burning wood, the quality of the air, the burnt smell of tyres. You just feel more connected to the environment. It helps you care more about it.
  
8. The science of how the bike works just amazes me. I still get this jelly like feeling in my gut every time I take a corner, being reminded of the gyro effect taking place, keeping the bike upright. The counter-intuitive act of turning the handlebars left for a right turn. WOW!
9. Its a lot quicker to get to where you want to go. Remember how pleasant it is to drive in the city when there's a long holiday? Bikers get that daily. Furthermore, its not merely carving precious time off the road traffic but parking as well. One weekend, a couple of moons ago, I was silly enough to drive a car to the Wan Utama shopping centre on a Sunday afternoon. It took me at least 45 minutes of frustration and regret before I found an empty car lot. I swear never to do such dumb things again.
10. But most important of all, I once read somewhere that "...if getting to and from work ain't the best part of work, you ain't got a life". It was the caption under a photo of a biker and his bike, confronting a corner in a windy country road. That poster was etched into my memory ever since. I love the feeling of taking on a corner with a bike. Ain't too many experiences in the world that tops that - and you get it everyday for practically nothing. Imagine.
    

For completeness sake and to be fair, here's the downside:

1. Its pretty inconvenient when it rains. It doesn't fail to rain whenever we forget to bring our raincoats. But even if we do have our raincoats, we are usually soaked from our own sweat from the heat caught under the raincoats in the tropical whether. Ain't exactly pleasant.
   
2. Try carrying a can of Pringles on a bike! For something fragile, taking a cab makes better sense.
3. Lack of storage. But look at the bright side, your friends are less likely to borrow your bike for those house moving rituals! However, with some effort, I've managed to carry a Meade ETX 70 telescope with all its accessories including the tripod from KL to Morib. Even carried a couple of pretty large rack mounted equipment once. But hey, bikes are not exactly designed to carry stuff.
4. You can't really carry more than 1 passenger. Although I once did managed to carry 2 others but for over a short distance - its illegal in most parts of the world.
5. Pollution from noise and dust.
   

They may be others but I'm going to stop here. Probably biased - like entirely missing the point that its a whole lot more painful, dangerous and riskier than a car when it comes to road accidents. But that's a matter for another blog. For now, ride safely.

Cheers.