There’s a scene in Christopher Buckley’s “Thank You For Smoking” where Nick Naylor explains his job to his son Joey, and as an example starts a debate with him as to whether chocolate or vanilla ice cream is better.  Nick’s response takes the argument off the rails (which was his point), but helps me to understand something about my transportation options.

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t consider myself a “bicyclist”; instead I think of myself as a “commuter”.  To me, a bicycle is transportation.  That doesn’t mean I won’t invent an errand as an excuse to go for a ride, but I still need a reason and destination.  I hear about some people who can go for a bike ride to clear their head or relax.  I kind of envy those people.  But I also worry about them, since I imagine they’re also more likely to get in an accident.

Riding as a commuter requires your full attention.  You’re watching traffic around you, to the point where you develop a sixth sense as to when a car will change lanes or turn without signalling.  You’re looking ahead to the next traffic light, watching for a crosswalk countdown to know how fast you have go to make it through the intersection before the light turns.  And throughout it all, you’re constantly on the lookout for any other threats:  cars pulling out of driveways, pedestrians stepping off the sidewalk without looking, even other bikes can be unpredictable.

Lately I’ve thought about walking to work.  I have a backlog of audiobooks from the library, and it’s not like I have a long drive (or even a car) where I can listen to them.  I certainly can’t listen to them while biking.  Besides being illegal, they would be a complete distraction that would either end up being tuned out so I could focus on traffic (begging the question of why listen in the first place), or not being tuned out with the subsequent distraction leading me right into an accident.  But, walking might give a better opportunity to catch up on my listening.

The concept of multi-modal transportation usually refers to the use multiple forms of transportation during one trip.  A person may bike to the bus stop, take the bus into town, then walk to their office.  However, an offshoot of this concept is that people need multiple options for transportation.  Sometimes you feel like biking, sometimes you feel like walking.  Last night Lisa and I walked to a restaurant for dinner.  It was about a mile and a half away, and in a part of town that we normally bike to.  Since we had the time and it was a nice evening, we found it much more enjoyable to stroll and chat, and we didn’t have to worry about locking the bikes, either.

And this brings me back to my initial reference to Thank You For Smoking.  Yes, I’m an avid cycling advocate, but I need more than cycling.  For that matter, I need more than walking.  I need mass transit, and yes, I need a car, too.  And that’s what this is about, Joey:  freedom.  Freedom and opportunity to choose how you get to a destination, and to do it safely and without worry.  Oh, and ice cream.  Always with the ice cream.