An Overlooked Survival Tool: The Bicycle [Good]


Before Hurricane Sandy took out power, subways, buses, and some roads this week, New Yorkers stocked up on food, water, duct tape, flashlights, and batteries. After the storm, they stocked up on bicycles. An overlooked survival tool, the bike has become the only realistic mode of transportation for thousands of residents of the nation’s densest and most populous city. That shouldn’t come as a surprise.
From post-Sandy New York to rush-hour in Jakarta, the bicycle steps up where infrastructure falls short. It’s narrow enough to squeeze through traffic, efficient and fast enough to cover lots of ground, and simple enough that just about anyone can operate and maintain one. Consider this wise passage from the Zombie Survival Guide, about the value of the bicycle for survivors of the zombie apocalypse (which the CDC would like to remind you can work as an analogy for just about any disaster situation):

[Keep reading at GOOD]

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