Depending on the power of his legs in commute

It’s 8:40 p.m. and Kevin Crawford looks like a mission-minded ninja as he rides his bicycle through downtown Portage.
On this 26-degree night, the mild-mannered novice bicyclist sports a black face mask, jacket, gloves, and windproof pants. Only a bright headlight and flashing rear red light shine through the night’s darkness.
Crawford is biking to Classic Bodyworks Gym for a workout after putting in an 11-hour work day at Mittal Steel’s Burns Harbor plant.
Impressed? I am. But get this. Crawford also biked to work that day, as he often does these days, a 14-mile round-trip commute as his gas-guzzling Ford Ranger remains parked at his Portage home.
Even in the winter. Even if there’s snow on the ground. Even he has to wake up a little earlier and bundle up a little tighter to do it.
So, is Crawford one of those pedal-pushing populists who’s always peddling the global and environmental benefits of biking?
Not really. He simply had a minor epiphany a couple years ago about our society’s addiction to gasoline, and nine months ago his lifestyle began a rebirth. At that time he consciously began weaning himself from his daily dependence on gas.

by Jerry Davich Post-Tribune columnist

Biking his route to a better future


March 28, 2008
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By Jerry Davich Post-Tribune metro columnist


Kevin Crawford has been bicycling to work, the gym, the post office, the grocery store, you name it.
So, is Crawford one of those pedal-pushing populists who's always peddling the global and environmental benefits of biking? Not really.
He simply had a minor epiphany a couple years ago about our society's addiction to gasoline, and nine months ago his lifestyle began a rebirth. At that time he consciously began weaning himself from his daily dependence on gas.

» Click to enlarge image
[IMG]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Crawford/My%20Documents/Kevin/865557,davich.article_files/032808pthome1.jpg[/IMG] Kevin Crawford of Portage crosses U.S. 20 on Indiana 149 in Burns Harbor early Monday morning on his way to work at Mittal Steel.
(Dave Bartman/Post-Tribune)

"I believe the end of our drive-everywhere car-obsessed culture is nearing its end," he told me. "I just don't see how anyone would think that carrying on the way we have been -- essentially a farce of limitless consumption in a finite world -- is wise," he said.
Yet instead of merely telling us about his views, like so many of us do with our opinions, diatribes and crusades, he's showing us the positive aspects of bicycling through example.

Don't be misled. He's not an overly athletic guy. He hasn't been biking for very long. He's never biked more than 20 miles. And his bike, a 1999 Mongoose SX 4.3 (if that means anything to you), is several years old and running these days on only one speed.
In other words, he's just an ordinary guy doing an extraordinary thing in our society. Which is why I'm more than happy to donate this column today as his makeshift soapbox.

"You only need to look as far as our parking lots to see how severely our country has been compromised for cars at the expense of everything else," he told me.
"Almost everywhere you go in America today, the message is clear -- at least 200 percent accommodation for cars, and less than 2 percent accommodation for anything else.
"Those who have ravaged our landscape this way ought to be ashamed."

OK, so Crawford is now showing and telling us, but he has a valid point. And one that we will have to face sooner or later. He's facing it now.
"Our cities should be made on the human scale, not the car scale. Those who have been to cities with more walkable, compact, mixed-use development, such as Paris, France, know the value and the beauty of development that hasn't completely catered to the personal automobile."

"Here in this country," Crawford aptly points out, "every quart of milk suggests making a trip with the Chevy Suburban. It's not healthy, it's
not responsible, and it's most certainly not sustainable."

Crawford has discovered the more he bikes, the easier it is, like with most exercising. But biking more has also done wonders for his emotional well-being, too.
"I feel better than ever," he said.
He's saving money on gas and vehicle maintenance, instead using it for biking equipment, such as studded tires, winter wear and night lights.
"I buy stuff that is made in the U.S. as much as possible," said Crawford, who works in the 160-inch plate mill at Arcelormittal. "I figure I can use my bike for about 75 percent of my daily errands and commutes."

And he's proving it.

Before I left Crawford at Classic Bodyworks that night, I asked him what his biggest obstacle has been since he started biking everywhere.
The cold? The road? The longer hours? Bicycle breakdowns? Night-time riding? Nope. Nope. Nope.
"It's all the vehicles," he said. "They think they own the roads and they don't."

Contact Jerry Davich at 648-3107 or jdavich@post-trib.com. Visit his blog at https://blogs.post-trib.com/davich/

I enjoy your rants about cyclists. I subscribe to a bicycling blog, Bikeforums.net, that has a strong Boston contingent, and adherence to vehicular laws is a hotly contested topic; the strongest adherents use the term "vehicular cycling," and of course there is the scofflaw position. [His first question was "Where's your spandex Italian jersey?"] On that blog, the "roadies" are the ones in tight spandex and Italian jerseys, and I didn't want to admit it on the air, but I would be considered a "Fred."

So thanks again for the interview; I am no match for your wit. Since I live in Kenmore, maybe I'll see you again there. BTW, on Bikeforums, my user name is Jim from Boston, the way I'm introduced when I (rarely) call in to WRKO.