Tired of rising gas prices? Try biking to work (video)

May 9, 2011, 1:16 pm

Jim Rebarcheck, air quality program manager for the Department of Environmental Protection, bikes to work from Harleysville to his office in Norristown. Photo provided

Kathy Yeagle does it for the exercise.

Laura Catalano does it because it is a fun way to get to work.

Robert Kuhlman doesn’t like putting more money than necessary into the pockets of the oil companies and wants to keep as many greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere as possible.

Jim Rebarchak hopes to inspire others to follow his example.

These four commuters all have something in common: They ride their bikes to work.

With gas teetering at the $4 a gallon mark and headed higher, much like America’s obesity rate, they are among the many who have converted to pedal power for a remedy.

“I don’t have that far to go, and I love the exercise. I used to bike 30 miles a day, and it was the most free I’ve felt in my lifetime,” said Yeagle, who used to ride her bike from Pottstown to work in Collegeville and even commuted by bike while pregnant. “Then I had plenty of time to work out my problems, and being heavy was one of them.”

Weight loss was a benefit Kuhlman experienced as well.

“I’m getting older and can’t ride as many miles per week as I could 30 years ago,” he said, “and the holiday bulge gets harder and harder each year to work off, but I like to do what I can to keep my weight under control and enhance my aerobic fitness.”

Successful Businessman