Name: Mr.

Ankeny

1. Exposition - Giving the opposite side.

A. Sitting in gridlock traffic, tapping my foot against the floor of my car, I have to imagine a better way.
A biker slides past me in the empty bike lane, dodges a manhole, and skips through the
intersection. The better way may just be the former way.
B. Cars are convenient, you can listen to music, you can adjust the temperature, you get around
quickly, you are comfortably seated.
C. But at what cost does your comfort come? How much is sacrificed for your own personal pleasure.
And is comfortability really what we seek most in life, or can the strain of exercise lead us to a
healthy and happier state?
D. Riding your bike to work, instead of driving, is healthier for you and the world at large.
2. Rising Action
A. To start, letʼs take personal satisfaction into account. Biking makes you healthier and happier.
i. Exercise is not only helps alleviate negative symptoms like depression, but is also helpful in
preventing other problems. (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro05/web2/
mmcgovern.html)
ii. The more we exercise, the healthier we are, and the healthier we will stay. Riding to work can
be your daily exercise, and getting there provides the motivation to complete the workout. It
has motivation built in.
B. Biking also helps compartmentalizing and organization.
i. Because biking takes more time, it allows you to think about your day and stimulates your
creativity.
ii. Wallace Stevens wrote most of his poems while walking to work (a great alternative to riding
your bike)
iii. “I write best when I can concentrate, and do that best while walking. Any number of poems
have been written on the way from the house to the office." (http://
writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2010/10/02)
iv. Because innovation takes time, and biking to work gives you time, youʼre more likely to be
innovative while riding your bike than driving your car.
v. COUNTER: now, you could argue that riding your bike takes more concentration than driving
your car, and driving gives you the freedom to concentrate more. But, since driving takes you
out of the world at large, youʼre actually less likely to be aware of things around you, the
sounds, smells, feeling or the place, and therefore less likely to think of beneficial things.
B. Biking is better for the environment.
i. Unless you completely disagree with global warming research on car exhaust leading to
excess CO2 in the atmosphere, this point should be easily conceded.
ii. Thinking in the long term health of the air you and I breathe, and the air our children will
breathe, biking clearly holds the cards.
3. Climax:
A. If weʼre looking at our own health and well-being, and the health of our planet and offspring, biking
to work cannot be ignored as the superior transportation option.
4. Falling Action
A. Being a happier, healthier person also takes the strain off your co-workers and, letʼs be honest, the
already flooded-with-issues health-care system.
B. So if youʼre willing to take the focus off yourself and think a little creatively about your
transportation, you can help yourself and others. No one looses, except the morning radio
talkshow hosts, who will, no doubt, miss your morning listenership.
5. Denouement (Conclusion)
A. The utopian vision of an all cycling work force is of course tempting. But Iʼll suffice it to stay
individualistic, and encourage you that currently the bike lane is wide-open.