By Brooks Stanfield
Special to the Times/News

(Editor's Note: The Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation in partnership with Burien Parks and Recreation is conducting a series of Monday bike classes.
The classes will be held at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W. For information, visit www.BurienParks.net or call 206-988-3700.
To encourage participation in the classes, Burien parks staffers asked Brooks Stanfield to write the following essay about the joys of bicycling
Stanfield is a co-organizer of the B-Town Bike Fair and winner of Burien's Environmentalist of the Year award. You can join the discussion about bicycling in Burien by visiting the B-Town Bike Fair blog or Facebook page.)

About seven years ago, while living in North Seattle, I started riding my bike to work.
I can't even remember what gave me the idea, but since that time cycling has turned into an obsession. My understanding of exactly why, however, has recently and unexpectedly changed.
Over the last few years I've tried to pass along my passion for cycling to my wife, Marya, and our two small kids. And last summer we had a breakthrough when we scored a long-tail "Xtracycle" bike off of Craigslist. This station wagon of a bike allows, among other things, for a child (or two) to ride seated right behind mom or dad. With this, Marya began riding to school along side our first-grade daughter with our 4 year-old son mounted on the back.

A couple weeks later, Marya was sold. "This way of getting places just gives you something back", she proclaimed. "When I drive I feel like I'm wasting my life away."

After just two weeks of pedaling my intellectually superior spouse was able to articulate what I had not after seven years. She also reported that when my son rides on the back of the Xtracycle, he likes to sing. "He's my little radio", she said. Can it get any cooler than that?

The popularity of bicycling has growing pretty dramatically over the past decade and there are endless studies on the benefits of biking.

Bicycling is, of course, greener than driving a car and people have figured out that it's a good tool for short trips.

Bikes also save you money (especially at $4 a gallon) and they strengthen neighborhoods (it's hard to chat when zipping by at 30 mph).

Bikes are good for local businesses and every mile I ride equals about 35 calories.

I care about the planet, my community, and my health. Heck, I work for the EPA!

But I'll be honest; the reason I logged 6,000 miles on my bike last year is because.... well, it's fun. Between work, soccer practices, and other demands there simply never seems to be time for quiet reflection or new discoveries.

When I'm my bike going places, however, I get something back on the way. It's the antidote to road rage, information overload, and to Seattle's winter doldrums. Pedaling from A to B makes each day an adventure and brings out the best in me (just ask my family). _So if you see someone out on a bike braving the rain or pulling groceries in a child trailer, don't assume they're nobly sacrificing for the betterment of society. It could just be "fun with benefits." And if a friend or family member tries to talk you into bicycling with them to the park or store. Be extremely cautious! Seven years from now you may find yourself smiling because you're pulling 50 pounds of groceries in the rain and pedaling hard because you can't wait to tell your spouse about what happened along the way.