Jenny is a multimodal bicycle commuter studying to become a college professor.  She travels from Sacramento to UC Davis using both her bike and public transportation.  Her old bike was too heavy for her to continue lifting onto the bus, so she bought this Breezer Uptown 3 which is lightweight AND fully equipped.  Her son, Ethan is and old friend of ours who submitted the following essay to a national contest.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in this smart, bike riding family.

"I ride. I ride hard. And nothing can stand in my way; not stop signs or railroad tracks; not traffic or pedestrians. I’m the Pizza Delivery Dude, and I ride hard. My fifty-pound, bright orange bicycle with its massive aluminum boxes on the front and back, rattles through the streets of midtown past businessmen, bums, and beagle-owners. I sit tall on my bike, because I’m proud of what I do. Sure I make less than fifty dollars a week, and maybe I don’t always get tipped, but I’m proud nonetheless.

I’m proud because I believe I can make change—and not just pocket change. My bicycle and I stand—or ride, when business is good—as a symbol of potential and of hope for the future. Mankind no longer needs to depend on motors and oil for his everyday needs because he can move on his own power. He can do anything with a bicycle: He can ride to work; he can deliver the mail; he can pick up groceries; he can travel out of state; he can move to a new house; he can drop off the kids; he can catch the bad guys; he can pick up his girlfriend for a date. Anything that he could do with a car—and many things that he can’t—he can do with a bicycle.

Bicycles have the potential to change the face of our planet for the better. What are some of the most worrisome social issues we face today? Pollution, oil prices, obesity? All of these problems can be solved in part by the bicycle. Sure, there are a million other factors, but just think. If we rode bikes to school, work, church? Wouldn’t we all be healthier for it?

I don’t speak as an expert, I don’t have a degree, and I never presented my ideas to a council; but I can feel it in my gut, and it makes me proud to ride that big, heavy, bright-orange bicycle. As I rumble through the streets, gripping the handlebars like a lifeline and leaning back just to keep from falling over, I see the people. They look at me, they smile, I ring my bell, and I know that I’m making them think. And maybe, just maybe, if enough of us start riding delivery bikes, messenger bikes, mail bikes, commuter bikes; then maybe they’ll start to think more often. Maybe they’ll think about leaving the car in the garage and riding to work because “hey, the Pizza Delivery Dude rides a bike, why can’t I?”

I believe my bicycle and I can change the world…"