The solution to some of the world’s biggest problems is probably right in your own garage.

   No, not your car – your bicycle!

More than 40 percent of trips in the U.S. are made within two miles of your home. Fifty percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work. Each commuter spends an average of 50 hours a year stuck in traffic.

   Our world isn’t going to change itself, so we are encouraging everyone to step up their efforts with something they rarely think about — to get out of the car and onto your bikes. The benefits are countless — to your environment, your health, to the obesity rates in the U.S.

All of these things we can change with very simple steps. Get out on your bike!

   Here in Napa Valley, we are heading a campaign called “2 Miles – 2 Wheels.” If you need to drive two miles or less, take your bike.

   Here in St. Helena, two miles covers the entire town! Can you imagine St. Helena with 50 percent fewer cars? Why do we need to take the SUV to the pharmacy or to the post office? In Napa, why go downtown in your car? It’s a challenge we are throwing out there to make a change in our world. And we all have these planet-changing bikes hanging and dusty in the garage!

   This is a challenge not only to adults but to our children, as well. Why do we sit in the congested pick-up zones at the schools, in our idling cars — when they could be riding or walking to school? In 1964, 50 percent of kids rode to school and the obesity rate was 12 percent. In 2004, 3 percent rode to school and the obesity rate was 45 percent. Between 1960 and today the average weight of a child between 6 and 11 ears old has increased by 11 lbs.

   Fact: The Bicycle is the most efficient moving vehicle on the planet, lets get out there and use it. Most people think of bike commuting a sweaty, dirty and dangerous event. Give it a try, two miles is a walk in the park. Little 8-year-old Jake Connorton has logged almost 200 miles on his bike over the summer — just riding around St. Helena! If he can do it, so can you. The easy part about it all – it’s fun!

(Scheideman owns St. Helena Cyclery.)