This summer, when gas prices were sky-high and the weather was good, my husband started biking the two miles to his office (yes, I know, why did it take him so long to start doing this?). He liked the exercise, and the fact that he could actually take a shorter route when he rode his bike than when he drove. Best of all, is his employer and the City of Redmond offer all sorts of great incentives and prizes for folks who use alternate forms of transportation.
I thought once the fall weather hit (and now that gas prices are more reasonable--they just recently went below $3.00/gallon around here) that he would go back to driving, but so far, that's not been the case. In fact, this weekend he went out and bought a reflective yellow rain jacket so he can bike when it is dark (by 4:30 p.m. in the wintertime) and wet. So, those incentives have really helped keep him motivated, and even though it's not a whole lot of miles saved each week, every little bit helps.
Our oldest son has also started riding his bike to early-morning seminary before school each day. Even though the chapel is less than a mile from home, we used to always drive him to seminary because it was still dark, then he would walk to school and walk home after school. We decided to let him bike because he now has a light on his bike, and it saves him time between seminary and school and school and home to be able to bike.
It's those little trips that really eat a lot of gas, so I'm glad to have eliminated the morning seminary run, and for my hubby to bike at least 3 days a week, if not all 5. Gas prices may be down now, but who knows what tomorrow might bring?
