Comment 72018

By jcw (registered) | Posted December 08, 2011 at 12:33:02

Folks,

I work ten munutes outside of Cambridge, one kilometre from the Hamilton-Cambridge boundary, on the sixth concession. Two summers ago, I bicycled to work and back: it took me about two hours, mostly because I was shapeless, riding on the gravel shoulders of Highways 52 and 8, and sweating in the heat of an afternoon sun. I know, woe is me.... If there were another way, another mode of public transportation to get me from our house between Fennell and Brucedale Avenues and Upper James and Wellington Streets to the sixth concession, I'd happily hop on-board, save money on gasoline, insurance, and otherwise, and save the larger, non-monetary costs on the environment. Using the H.S.R. BusWeb to plan that work trip is fruitless, as there aren't any bus-stops near Highway 8. The only way there, I think, is by bicycle and, according to Google Maps, that'll take two-and-one-quarter hours or so.

A change can and ought to come, but it'll cost me that most precious gift in our economy: convenience. It's, ultimately, easier for me to get in the car and drive from point A to B, but I'd like to live a life and show my one-year-old daughter that such a life is difficult and rewarding. Since we only live with an unknown number of days given to us, do I need to spend the bulk of life, fattening in traffic? Lord, have mercy. A colleague of mine at work has bicycled across Canada, raising money for refugees, so such "long" commutes are certainly able to be done.

I'll end this deliberation with an encouraging quotation from Carlyle's 'Heroes': "It is not to taste sweet things, but to do noble and true things and vindicate himself under God's heaven as a god-made man that the poorest son of Adam dimly longs."

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