By Lisa Savage

Interviewer： So most people， including me， learn how to ride a bicycle when were young， and maybe up through high school I did， and then， when I got out of school， I stopped bicycling. But you…

Rob Perks： Mmm.

Interviewer： …have continued to bicycle， so tell me， how have you incorporated this into your life？

Rob： Well， it started for me as well as， you know， as a kid getting to baseball practice， then in college you need to get to class， cars were expensive， all that. And then， you know， you move on， and I started to just drive to work， everything else， like most Americans do. And you ride on weekends， you ride your mountain bike on trails， you do all these things recreationally. And at one time in the weekend I decided， “You know what， Im gonna see if I can ride my bike to work.” Took me 20 minutes. The commute in the car was about 15 with stop lights…

Interviewer： Wow.

Rob：…and everything else. So， OK， this is gonna work. I started three days a week， set a goal， and it turned out to be so simple and so much fun， because youre outside， and you get to do the fresh air.So just kind of at that point it stuck and became part of my daily routine. My lifestyle to， yeah， you know， at least here in town， to use the bike more and the car less.

Interviewer： Thats great！ Yeah， I know， for me， especially being in the traffic in L.A.， it can be very stressful， so thats interesting that you say it was 15 minutes in the car and 20 minutes on the bike， and then you dont have all the stress of the traffic and the gas costs， and the repairs on your car.

Rob： Exactly. The health benefits are just one part of the whole package that you get， and itll affect your lifestyle and the way you communicate， the way you are tied to your local community， because you see things that you would never see when youre inside your car with the glass box around you. I mean a good example is if Im at a stop light， not only will a fellow cyclist potentially say hello， but people crossing the street say hello， and when was the last time you were in your car and you ever said hello at a red light？ But Ive even had people in cars say hello.

Interviewer： Wow.

Rob： It…its just one of those things that you become connected to your community， youre part of your area， and， while youre at it， youre getting the physical exercise as well.

Interviewer： Yeah， thats great. You know…

Rob： So its a win-win.

采访者：许多人，包括我自己，在小时候就学会了骑车，一直到上高中的时候，我还骑车，出了校门之后，我就不再骑车了。不过，你……

罗布·珀克斯：嗯。

采访者：……一直在骑车。那请告诉我，你是怎么把骑车与你的生活结合在一起的？

罗布：呃，你知道，这事儿对我来说，也是从小时候开始，从骑车去参加棒球训练开始，然后上大学的时候，骑车去上课，当时汽车是买不起的，等等。接下来，你也知道，人生往前走，像大部分美国人一样，我一开始也开车去上班，开车去做其他事情。我会在周末骑下车，在山林间的小道上骑山地车，这些都是些消遣。后来有一个周末，我决定：“试试看骑车上班会怎么样？”骑车上班花了我20分钟，而开车去要花15分钟，这包括路上等红灯的时间……

采访者：哇。

罗布：……和其他因素在内。好了，这个办法可行。一开始是一周有三天骑车上班，我给自己定下一个目标。之后，事情变得很简单，也相当有趣，因为人在户外，可以呼吸到新鲜空气。于是，大概正是那个时候，我被骑车吸引，它成了我日常生活的一部分。至少是我人在这里的时候，我的生活方式则变成多骑车，少开车。

采访者：太棒了！确实是这样的，我也知道，对于我来说，开车会让人处于紧张状态，特别是洛杉矶的交通状况更是如此。你说开车去上班是15分钟，骑车也才20分钟，这点很有意思。这样一来，你就不会有交通、汽油费用和维护汽车带来的压力。

罗布：正是这样，而骑车给健康带来的好处只是全部好处的一部分。骑车改变人的生活方式，改变你与其他人沟通的方式，改变你与所在社区建立关系的方式，因为你可以看到不少事情，这些是你坐在玻璃盒子一样的车里看不到的。一个很好的例子是，如果我在红灯前停下来，不仅仅是其他骑车的人有可能跟我打招呼，而且正在过马路的人也会打招呼。你还记得上次坐在车里等红灯时跟别人打招呼是什么时候吗？可是甚至会有在车里的人向我打招呼。

采访者：哇！

罗布：这只不过是你与所在的社区紧密相连的方式之一，你是当地的一分子。而且你在骑车的时候，身体也得到了锻炼。

采访者：对，那很好。你知道……

罗布：因此这是一件双赢的事。