Carol Henifin carries two photos in her wallet for inspiration. It takes a moment to realize as she unfolds them that they are pictures of her, more than two years ago and 200 pounds heavier.
That's when she was diagnosed with diabetes -- and before she discovered bicycling.
"My health went downhill into the toilet," the 50-year-old Richland woman said. "So I got on the bandwagon and started losing weight."
Weight Watchers helped Henifin shed pounds, and she slowly got into cycling, which "was the best thing I ever could have done in my life," she said.
More and more Tri-Citians are taking up cycling, local bicycle enthusiasts say.
The benefits to health, wallets and the environment are the draw. And there's also the Mid-Columbia's open country, lack of congestion, roads with bike lanes and wide shoulders and moderate weather.
"Tri-Citians really are lucky that way," said Damion Miller, a bicycle advocate who lives in Richland. "We need to teach people how to take advantage of it."
However, there is a fear of getting on the road with other vehicles, whose drivers are sometimes less than welcoming to cyclists.
"That's probably the worst part of cycling," said Richland resident John Ittner, 56, who has been a member of the Tri-City Bicycle Club for about 18 years. "We have some aggressive drivers here."
But Miller believes riders can learn to protect themselves and eliminate that fear.
"The educational component can help address this," said Miller, 39. "It's really addressing each person's perceived fears."
Miller, a certified instructor for the League of American Bicyclists BikeEd, teaches effective cycling and bicycle mechanics classes, as well as giving corporate presentations through his business, Bike Well for Life, which he recently began out of his home.
"He basically teaches drivers ed for bicycles," Ittner said.
There are 100 million bicycles in the U.S. -- matching the number of cars -- but 80 percent of bikes are never ridden, Miller said.
He said this is because people have had negative experiences riding, the bicycle is not fitted for them or the bike has mechanical problems that the owner does not know how to fix.
Though Henifin had been riding nearly a year before meeting Miller, she was hesitant to ride from her home to trails on roads with cars.
"There was a bit of fear there," she admitted.
Miller's class taught her how to avoid hazards -- scan the road, turn quickly to avoid being hit, avoid hazards in the road while still maintaining a predictable line and stop quickly.
These skills help people avoid the most common causes of falls and collisions.
"I'm 100 percent more confident on the road now," she said.
"You need to know how to behave in traffic," said Ittner, who has helped the Tri-Cities develop bicycling maps.
But, he added, "You'd be surprised with all the places in the Tri-Cities you can get without ever getting on a road."
Though Henifin and Ittner ride primarily for recreation, Miller advocates cycling as much as possible.
"My goal is to try to get people out of their cars and onto their bikes," he said. "Gas is one thing, but the death rates, the pollution, the socioeconomic costs are much bigger than gas."
Miller, who moved to the Tri-Cities from the East Coast in September, sold his car in 1996 and since has ridden about 3,000 miles yearly for transportation and recreation.
"It's probably the most important decision I've ever made," he said.
* Resources: Bike Well for Life, 591-0430, damionjmiller@msn.com, www.bikeleague.org; Tri-City Bicycle Club, www.tricitybiycleclub.org; Bicycle Alliance of Washington, www.bicyclealliance.org
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