By Michael Mosko, ACE Intern + Field Correspondent

I used to get around by wearing down the soles of my kicks, sinking into passenger seats and enjoying the musty smell of public transit. I’ve evolved, though, to two beautiful tires gliding across concrete streets.

It all began at a bus stop at 40th and Telegraph, Oakland, CA. I had been waiting for my bus, any bus in fact, to show up and drop me just a little closer to Berkeley’s side of Telegraph Avenue. I waited and ten minutes passed. Then 15, then 20…. 30. My bus did not come to my rescue.

I realized that my bus would never meet me and I started to trek home. On my way, I texted my friend and let him know that any form of kicking it was off for the day. As I rambled home, I was passed by a multitude of bicyclists and each one passed freely through intersections, dodged easily past vehicles. They were so free!

After relying on public transportation for the past three years I finally found my answer to getting from place to place. I was inspired to get a bicycle.

Simply put, biking is the most efficient form of travel. Bikes produce no carbon emissions, they are 1/5 the size of your average car and someone in decent shape could bike 50 miles per burrito! By biking, not only are you getting exercise, you’re helping to win the war against wasteful automobiles and ultimately, climate change.

Let me tell you, after not riding a bike for years, there is nothing like feeling the wind rushing past my body as I coast through these Oakland streets. Not only is my bike easy on the eyes, it’s an exhilarating ride. I pity the fool on the bus watching me through a smudged window as I juke past cars and traffic.

In spite of my recent transformation, however, something has been bothering me recently. I see a lot of bikers on the road but I barely see any other bicyclists my age. Most of my peers drive there own cars and they drive them everywhere.

Is their driving really necessary? I certainly don’t think so, and speaking from personal experience, biking is a hundred times more dope than driving. I call it doing my part.