If there’s one thing modern technology is all about, it’s speed. We humans were not designed for this world of speed. 20 mph limits reduce emissions by 25% and reduce casualties by 20-30%, according to 20splenty.org. A Danish study concluded that traffic noise is likely responsible for about 11% of all annual dementia diagnoses.

Cycling has a carbon footprint of about 21g of CO2 per kilometre. That’s less than walking or getting the bus and less than a tenth of the emissions of driving. The calculations included emissions associated with production, maintenance and fuel. The figures were based on a heavy 19 kg European-style town bike built using 14.6kg of aluminum, 3.7kg of steel and 1.6kg of rubber and the cost of producing the extra calories consumed by a cyclist rather than a motorist.

A European Union study found that “each km driven by car incurs an external cost of €0.11, while cycling and walking represent benefits of €0.18 and €0.37 per km. Cycling is an external benefit worth €24 billion per year and walking €66 billion per year.” A study in Australia found that if you walk for 20 minutes to and from work, the state economy benefits by $8.48.

The problem with bicycles, though, is they don’t feed the voracious, quick and mega cash appetites of the billionaires. The problem with bicycles, though, is that they promote human agency, rather than suck us further into the relentless spiral of high-tech dependency. To make billionaires into trillionaires—which is what we’re all on this planet to do—we must become more dependent on their throwaway tech toys. Teaching our children healthy independence, and agency, we can’t have that!

In Ireland, at the moment, the car lobby is fuming and doing everything it possibly can to stop as many cycling initiatives as possible. Fossil fuel forces flood social media with multiple identical misinformation posts starting something like:
“I’m not against cycling. In fact, I’ve cycled the Ring of Kerry, but, but, but, but, but …”
“I’m not an anti-vaxxer, but, but, but, but, but, but …”
“I’m not a climate change denier, but, but, but, but, but …”
“I’m not a racist, but, but, but, but, but, but, but …”

Meanwhile in Ireland, the proportion of children in the 13-18 age bracket who walked to school fell between 1986 and 2016 from 34% to 22%. The percentage cycling to school dropped from 16% in 1986 to just 2% in 2016, while those travelling as passengers in cars grew from 12% in 1986 to 43% in 2016.

“The near decimation of ‘incidental activity’ in children’s lives is disturbing,” a Sports Ireland study stated in 2021. Since the 1970s, there has been a tenfold increase in Ireland of children overweight and obese. It used to be 1 in 100. Now it’s 1 in 10. “It is estimated that overweight and obesity will be responsible for the deaths of 85,000 children on the island of Ireland and currently, children as young as eight are presenting with high blood pressure while some teenagers have a heart health age of 60,” the Irish Heart Foundation has stated. “The total lifetime costs of childhood obesity in the Republic of Ireland are estimated to be €4.6 billion,” the Irish government has stated.

Meanwhile, as 2021 came to an end, Irish politicians were falling over themselves in attempts to take credit for the massive expenditure for the Galway Ring Road. While at the same time in Dublin planners were considering putting a cycleway through a cemetery because of the virulent and intense objections of drivers, outraged that safe cycling might be provided for children on Irish roads.