Of bikes and bacon

Sneak preview of a very short article for the website going online tonight. Hacked off that it's a week late, and will be a little shorter than usual, but my right wrist/hand seems to be improving with the rest measures taken, and that's the main thing...

-----------------

There's a moment, near the start of the Hungry Cyclist book, where the author has a epiphany that would be shared by many other pedallers. He realises the link between food and cycling is one that involves more than simply taking in enough energy to make it to your next feeding stop, but rather because he cycles he can more or less eat what he wants.

To some, however, this is an odd concept. An environmental group recently held a 'bike breakfast' where cycle commuters were offered free bacon rolls (or vegetarian sausages). One comment the group received was that bacon rolls did not help with the environmental and sustainable message of cycling to work. And I'm afraid I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

The event itself was about cycling first and foremost, and to my mind the likes of bacon rolls are exactly what such an event should be enticing people onto their bikes with. Why? Because it's normal. One of the great benefits of cycling to work every day for me is that I can eat an unhealthy pig-based snack; I can have that cake at lunchtime; I can maintain my two spoonfuls of sugar in my coffee; without the need to feel guilty about it, or have to go to the gym to work it off. I do that quite simply by riding every day.

This is a message that we need to get across. Tying in cycling with being 'green', by pandering to pre-conceived notions of tofu-knitting sandle-wearing weirdy-beardies, will, quite frankly and honestly, stop many people getting on their bike in the first place.

Tell them that they'll get a nice arse; that their thighs will get toned; that they can still indulge in chocolate; just by riding to work every day. These are messages stronger than any 'faster than the usual traffic'; 'cutting down my carbon footprint'; and even 'cheaper than running a car' arguments.

Carrot or stick to get people onto bikes is a difficult argument to resolve; bacon roll or stick is not.