reasons to ride your bike

1. Bike seats don't stick to your back when it's way too hot and way too humid.

2. Being outside is better than being in a big metal box.

3. You're not spewing greenhouse gases into the air or supporting authoritarian states and repressive corporations.

4. $100 for a decent used bike, $50 for a lock, $30 for a helmet. What kind of car will you get for $180? What kind of insurance?

5. You can ride fast if you want exercise, slow if you just want a little air.

6. All the other bicyclists will be happy you're there, making us all more visible.

7. When the oil-based economy collapses, you'll be a step ahead.

8. You become 35% more attractive. You get 45% for riding the bike, but you lose twenty points on the chance that you're a member of some stupid hipster/poser/anarcho-punk subculture. Then you get ten of those points back for wearing a helmet, which suggests that even if you're a stupid hipster/poser/anarcho-punk you have some kind of sense; but not all the points, because helmets are still doofy. Even better, you can be more attractive in whatever style you like. European single-speed doing the grocery shopping with a basket and some baguette; tough fearless bike messenger moving way too fast; cute interesting person going to a non-profit; teacher with a backpack full of books; hipster/poser/anarcho-punk; you're still 35% more attractive.

9. In San Francisco, you start at 60% more attractive, and go from there. Gets you all the way to 50%.