Is it OK to bike on Shabbat?

I saw Tom Friedman talk last night; he talked about his book Hot, Flat and Crowded. He talked about a "green" revolution -- and how a revolution creates turmoil, not logos.

(A couple of thing bothered me. He used the Space Shuttle as a simile, and I found it jarring: the Space Shuttle does not reach "escape velocity" -- nor does it try, as it's work is entirely within Earth's gravity well. He also talked about how the world cannot support a large population of people living like Americans, with large cars, large houses, "Big Mac meals"; and that there are millions of people throughout the world who are now living this lifestyle -- Europe, Russia, China... and India. I just don't see a lot of people in India eating "American" Big Macs).

One of the things he made me think about was how my cycling has changed. When I lived in California, and used a bicycle as my primary means of transportation, my cycling contributed to a greener world, albeit in a very small way. It was enabled by Government decree, who insisted my company enable alternate transportation, and as a result, they provided secure lockers for the bikes, lockers for my clothes and showers for me. Mr Friedman thinks that the revolution won't happen without Government involvement.

The kind of cycling Don, Vic and I do is not at all "green". First we drive two minivans at least 100 miles each to the trail head and back. Second, we use recreational trails instead of roads, because we don't have an actual destination we need to reach, unless you can classify our habitual restaurants as "necessary destinations". Organized rides like the PALM sound green because 700 riders cross Michigan by bike. However, the SAG vehicles burn gas along enough miles to make up for it, and virtually everyone rides to or from the ride in a vehicle, easily burning more gas than a motorcycle race.

Raising small children may be the least green thing you can do. As our grandchildren transition out of diapers, the rolls of toilet paper distributed through the house make up for the landfill space that would otherwise be saved by not using diapers; and the number of flushes per day has grown exponentially. When Mr Friedman becomes a grandparent, I wonder how it will change his perspective.

Sue and I are planning a bike tour in September to New Orleans. We won't have a SAG vehicle, and we'll be returning by train -- at least to Chicago. It's probably "greener" than many other vacations we could take, but we're not taking this vacation to make a point, or to be green or anything like that. We're taking it because we need the escape, and this is what we want to do, and I don't really care what it does to the earth.

So is biking green? If you use a bike instead of a car for a trip, then biking is green. But not everyone on a bike is reducing their carbon footprint, and I bike because I like biking, not for any other reason. There is, perhaps, less justification for self righteousness on a bike than there is in a Prius.

And I know it's OK for me to bike on Shabbat, since I'm not Jewish; but for Shomer Shabbat , I am curious.