 Hey you, are you sick of high gas prices? Then ride a bike. Hello my friends, my name is Ryan Van Duzer and I love riding my bike. You know, I've ridden my bike all over the world on various adventures, but when I'm home here in Boulder, my bike is my main form of transportation. You see, I'm 43 years old and I've never had a car in my life. I made a pledge when I was a young kid, I watched a PBS special about Earth Day and I decided then and there to never drive a car. This video is gonna be all about how riding a bike will make your life better and funner. Yes, funner is a word. Okay, I'm gonna give you a number that might just be enough to persuade you to ditch your car and ride a bike. The average person who drives their vehicle 15,000 miles a year spends $10,000 a year on their car and that goes for gas, which is about $3,000. Maintenance fees, loan, all that other car stuff that cost a ton of money, $10,000 a year. That is a lot of money and that number was calculated before 2022 when gas prices skyrocketed. Here's another one. Most trips done by car are within about five miles from your home and all of those trips can easily be done on a bicycle and you wanna know how much I spend on my bike every year in terms of maintenance, about $200, maybe, maybe. And that's only if I replace the tires and brake pads and some of you out there might be thinking, wow, I don't know how to fix a bike. Bikes are really easy to fix. Once you learn a few of the basics, you can just stop on the side of the road if you get a flat tire and fix it right then and there. When you're in a car, you usually have to take it into a shop and it's expensive and you have to wait a long time. Bikes can be fixed right away and some of you out there might be thinking, well, I don't even have a bike. How much do bikes cost? Well, you can easily get a used bike for like $300 and there's great quality bikes in that price range and even if you spend, let's say, $1,000 on a bike, that's still way cheaper than a car. I realize that some people find riding a bike to be difficult and that's true. There is some level of physical fitness required to pedal a bicycle, right? But now with e-bikes, essentially anybody can jump on a bike and cruise. A few years ago, I got an e-bike for my mom and it really transformed her life. Before she got an e-bike, she could never dream of riding a bike alongside me. She just couldn't physically do it. Now she has an e-bike and she can whoop my butt and it gives her the freedom to jump on a bike and go grocery shopping and ride with her friends and it's just fun. We all know that when you get on a bike, it makes you feel like a kid again, right? It brings back those awesome memories of when you kicked off the training wheels and you just took off. Well, I think more adults should be riding bikes because it brings back that joy and that fun. And if we're riding our bikes around town instead of driving in cars, I think it's gonna be good for just our base level of happiness as a society. And I know that some people think that e-bikes are cheating because there's a motor and it's doing everything for you, but that's not actually true. Most e-bikes, you have to pedal to make them go. Yes, they give you a boost, but there's been a lot of research done saying that people who ride e-bikes actually get more exercise than they did on their regular bikes because they're riding their e-bikes more often and for longer distances. I will say that I completely realize that not every town is as bike-friendly as Boulder where I live. Some of you live in towns where it's downright scary to ride a bike and I get that and it's a bummer, but we're doing a little bit better in the United States. We're building protected bike lanes and my answer to you is, well, if you live in one of those towns, try to get involved in local politics and make biking better for everybody. And here's the fact, here's the fact of it all. The more bikes that are on the streets, the more the cars are gonna get used to seeing you and when cars get used to seeing bikes, they hopefully will respect you because we all have a right to be on the roads. Okay, let's talk about some of the fun, unintended consequences of riding a bike. And you know what one of my favorites is? You find stuff on the road when you're on a bike and when you find stuff, you can stop and pick it up. This past year, you know what I found? I found a hammer on the side of the road and you know what, I needed a hammer. It was like the universe was giving me something that I needed. And you know another one? Parking, I know everybody complains about parking when they're in cars. You ride a bike, I guarantee you, you're gonna have the best parking spot of anybody right in front of wherever you need to go. And you know what? You get to feel the world around you. Right now, it is raining on me. Hey, there's some bikers. It's raining on me. So it's like free air conditioning. And even when it's not raining, you have the wind in your hair. On a hot day, you ride a bike, I guarantee you, you're gonna be a lot cooler. You're gonna feel good. Wind in your hair is the best feeling in the world. You know what? You also just notice things more. You notice the awesome trees. You notice the cool clouds. You notice the architecture around you. When you're in a car, you kind of enclose. And a lot of times you're listening to music or a podcast and you're just insulated from the outside world. When you're on a bike, you see, hell, there's my friend. You can just stop and start chatting with them. Oh, there's nothing better than a little summertime rain. Here's another one. And maybe it's kind of morbid, but it's true. You are not gonna hit a deer or any other type of animal on your bike and kill it like you would in a car. Being, you know, from Boulder, Colorado here, I would say, you know, 30% of my friends have at some point in their lives hit a deer and it's traumatic. And you usually kill the other animal, which is always a sad thing. Here's a big one. You get around town faster on a bike. And I know you might be thinking, no way, cars are way faster than bikes, but you know what we don't have to do? We don't have to deal with traffic. We can take shortcuts. We can usually ride right to the side of cars and we can get around town much faster. And funner, there's that word again. It's way more fun to ride your bike around town. I promise. Every single time I get on my bike, it's a new adventure. Every time I get on my bike, I get to explore. And there's really no better feeling in the world. I get exercise, I have fun. I'm integrated into my community. I can say hi to my friends. I can hear the birds chirping. It's just good for my heart and my soul and everything else. And people always ask me, Ryan, are you always this happy? And I'm not always this happy. I'm a human, I have emotions, right? But I think a big reason why I'm usually in a pretty good mood is because I ride my bike everywhere. It's just fun. This thing right here is my freedom machine. It always has been and it always will be. And when you're moving your mind and your body, you're gonna just be a healthy, happy human. Oh, and the whole point of this video was to talk about gas prices. Yeah, you're not gonna be spending tons of money on gas and car maintenance. And I'm not a full-on car hater. I understand the value of cars. I get it. My mom was a single mom and she had to drive us all around when we were growing up. But I certainly believe that we humans, especially in the Western world, can drive our cars a lot less and ride our bikes a lot more. So in conclusion, bikes are awesome. But there's more to say. Bikes are awesome. They don't pollute. They make you healthy. They make you happy. They're better for the environment, way better for the environment than cars. And there's no noise pollution involved with riding a bike. And as you can see, look at this smile. It's just good for you. So if any of you out there are thinking, maybe I should ride my bike more, I'd say give it a shot. And I know there are some genuine concerns about safety and your physical fitness, but I think you can do it. You can start small and you can slowly ride your bike more and more. And believe me, you will be a happier person because of it. I promise. And your wallet will be a lot happier too. So thank you so much for watching this video. I really appreciate it. Please like and subscribe. And if you wanna watch a lot of cool adventure videos from around the world, from the seat of this bicycle, I travel a lot. And hopefully you'll find them entertaining and inspiring to challenge yourself, get on your bike and cruise around this beautiful world.