Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat worried that the cycling industry is not doing enough to save the planet:Like, youd think making bikesstill the most efficient mode of transportation humanity has every devisedwould be enough, right?Apparently though 65 percent of people who answered some kind of survey do in fact want to see the bike industry engage in climate advocacy:The story says only but 65% sounds like a lot to methough as someone whod be willing to pay a premium for them to shut up about it once and for all I realize Im biased. No offense to John Burke, of course:People give him a hard time, but I like that John Burke thinks he can fix everything:Granted, I havent read the book, but I think its cute hes always making earnest to-do lists:I dont know what a single one of those 16 detailed solutions is, but I find the utter futility of the whole endeavor oddly endearing.As for the video, its also basically a list, though he starts off with a story about riding with Rory Kennedy 10 years ago:Wait, he believes in climate change and the moon landing?!? Whats next, Burke? Evolution?!?Anyway, he goes on to explain that she told him in 10 years this is what people (presumably the ones who are left after the planet climate changes us to death) will be saying:Keep in mind this was ten years ago, and nobody today is speaking in the past tense. In fact, I even checked the Climate Clock:And according to them weve still got four whole years leftmaybe even more if we get more women in parliaments:Why is more women in parliaments good for the planet? I have no idea. As far as I can tell the climate is basically an angry god that must be appeased. But Im not going to argue with any of it lest someone accuse me of being a climate change denier.Now, what Im getting here is that 10 years ago Rory Kennedy told John Burke we have 10 years, so he immediately started doing some climate stuff at Trek, and now here we are 10 years later, nobodys speaking in the past tense, and we still have four more years even according to the whackadoodles who run the Climate Clock:[Greta gets whatever she wants. Thats what makes Greta Greta.]So from all of this we can safely conclude that John Burke is taking credit for single-handedly saving the planet.Nice job, John Burke. That was a close one.So how did he save the planet? Im not sure; I skipped through the video, but I think he started shipping bikes in smaller boxes. Though it is worth noting that 10 years ago Trek had only one bicycle that required a battery:[From here.]And now theyve got a metric assload of bikes that require batteries:Like, basically theyve electrified like half their catalog. And thats not counting all the non-e-bikes that still need batteries just to shift. Even a 105-level road bike needs to be plugged in these days.(Here is an honest question: is a Trek T80+ still viable today? Can you get replacement batteries for it? I really have no idea.)So I ask you ladies and gentlemen: How did we manage take the most efficient machine ever created and undermine that efficiency by putting a bunch of gratuitous batteries all over it that have to be mined, all while congratulating ourselves for all the things were been doing to save the planet?And yes, I get itthe batteries require more resources than the regular bikes, but thats offset by the fact that e-bikes are getting people out of their cars. Oh, waitIm not saying e-bikes havent become a meaningful part of the transportation landscape; all Im saying is that we just keep driving more and more no matter what. See that dip? Basically, locking people in their homes and telling them theyre going to die is about it is the only way to keep people in this country from driving.So Id love to congratulate the bicycle industry for all its doing to save the planet, and Ill absolutely do so just as soon as all these companies announce that theyll no longer produce bikes that require batteries and that theyll cease helmet production immediately.Fake fact I just made up: 32% of that plastic will be bicycle helmets.And in other sustainability news, I completely missed that Vittorias making a new tire out of food and garbage:If they can make a good tire out of old crap then that is genuinely fantastic. Still, I really dont want to live in a world where people treat riding on black tires like wearing a fur coat:Also, while the raw materials may be different, weve ridden down this road on over-inflated tires before:Remember the colored tire craze of the late 90s and early aughts?You can guess who pointed out the folly of this at the time:I admit to not knowing much about tire compounds, but I do know tires are mostly black again, and Im guessing this is why. Continental used sell colored tires and market its Activated Silica Compound, but now their tires are black and theyre pushing the soot content instead:I guess black soot doesnt have the same ring to it.As for the new Vittorias, I guess theyre still being tested:That seems like something youd want to know. But the color matches the dirt, which should make them a hit on the gravel scene.Spoeaking of gravel, a reader informs me that the New York Times says this is the best book:And that its like riding a bike on gravel:Slippery and nerve-racking? Mustve been using those recycled tires.Wonder what pressure they were running