Fetishizing the bicycle-toy in the name of the "greenness"

So I wrote a post earlier this year titled "The Green Paradox" that asked some questions about the seemingly ass backwards mentality that pushes some of use to buy a labor intensive, cost prohibitive, toxic in production methods/materials and often disposable bicycle as a form of "transportation" in the name of greenness.  It talked about the act of mindless upgrading, the pressure to have the most future-tech bike possible and all of the issues that come to mind when contemplating the nature of mindless consumption for the promise of lighter, better and stronger.  You might almost forget that we are talking about bicycles here, but the lets remember that this is happening all around us in the typical guise of "green cycling".  You know, spending that $3k+ on a full suspension mountain bike or full carbon road bike is full of anti global warming merit after all; because when we aren't busy commuting for work, family life and leisure purposes in our 20-something mile to the gallon petrol guzzlers, gallivanting about on our mostly-plastic framed, hydraulic hosed, electronic filled, suspension oiled play toys is synonymous with a truly green pastime.  Yeah...

I was once visited by vaguely cyclist-looking riders that told me I needed to ride my local trails like this

Bikes are great.. mostly

Obviously I enjoy bikes and riding them, just as nearly anyone who is probably reading this does; but one of the biggest aspects that underscores the differentiating factor between sensible and "green" purchasing habits vs the contrary is a semi-concise awareness of the resource sapping that incurs in the form of labor, mining/extraction, refinement, manufacturing, packaging, advertisement, reallocation and upkeep/repair of such produced bicycles.  I am talking about the foresight that comes with knowing that the hobby (for most people) that is cycling comes both literally and figuratively at a massively exhaustive cost.  Getting out on the road with this years new play-thing is in every sense of the word taxing, and I can't seem to see it in any other light here.  Of course the input/output (resources used to miles traveled) of nearly any bicycle will stand strong against the automobile if leveraged in terms of miles per dollar, but that seems to be the equivalent of comparing the efficacy of a leaf blower to a rake made of pure gold, or ivory for that matter: as if to say that there is inherent goodness based on the fact that one uses human power vs some form of hydrocarbon-whatever.  Just because we are pedaling our way around neighborhood and trail systems with our expensive "green machines" does not mean that it holds enviro-clout under the scrutinizing eye.  

So where do we really draw the line?  What does the all too subjective notion of greenness really amount to anyway?  Its difficult to answer in short, and my observations above are certainly just that; subjective.  They come from places of personal observation, weighing moral values, asking challenging questions and embracing new changes.  Though the realizations that I come to and adhere by may be differing to many, I have to think that there can be a fairly general consensus as to what the hell we are really doing with bikes, what the cost/value of it all is and if it is really "green" at the end of the day.  My goal here is not so much to sit down and crunch various metrics, to shame any particular person or to encourage people to get off their already acquired bikes (be it the aforementioned varietal or not) as much as it is to encourage positive steps in forward thinking with regard to future consumption.  I am talking about embracing new ideas revolving around increased longevity, enhanced foresight, reduced redundancy and having a higher understanding of what goes into our "hobbies" and what in turn comes out of them.

non-fitness model female cyclists get rad on
 relatively normal/useful/repairable/affordable bikes!!!?
That KOM jersey on the right though... :)

We can't all be commuters.. but...

There is a huge number of people out there who would love nothing more than to commute by bike but for varying reasons can not.  From epic millage between the work place and home to physically debilitating conditions that prevent them from extended periods in the saddle, it is not my place or anyone else to shame and blame here.  Most people will only ever mount a saddle (or recumbent/"adaptive" bike seat for that matter) on the weekends, days off, after work or whatever else downtime is available.  Though we cant all be commuters, we can certainly exercise discerning levels of educated purchasing for these equally important times of cycling.  Maybe its just a short ride for exercise, a long ride from one cafe to another, or simply trying to develop good balance; a modestly priced, realistically designed, comfortably setup, repairable, strong and replaceable bike can and certainly will get the job done.  

We seem to forget that we can exercise, get around short distances, be outdoors and embrace cycling altogether with out subscribing to the notion that we need the ultra expensive, toxic bike toys that we are being sold as we try to look the part of the "serious" cyclist.  By attempting to "hang with the guys" we sell ourselves the notion that recreation riding "for fun" needs to be synonymous with ultra-luxury oriented bicycle/component consumption habits.  There is no reason why we can't get out there on a non-race-machine and get exercise, adventure, traverse from place to place and most importantly have a good time doing it all.