If there's any silver lining to the rising price of gas, it's that it's unifying people who normally don't find themselves agreeing on much.

Whether the motivation for driving less and buying fuel-efficient vehicles is to slow pollution and our dependence on oil, or whether it's just to save money, the effect is the same.

And we hope the effort being highlighted this month to get more people out of their cars and walking or riding bicycles is wildly successful. This week is bike-to-work week, and we can't think of a reason not to be supportive of the effort.

Maybe riding a bike to work is something you should consider trying, too. It just might turn out to be something you can make a habit out of. And, once you've burned all those calories and saved all that money, you might find you're energized by the ride to work rather than frustrated by morning traffic snarls.

Carson City is lucky to have a group like Muscle Powered, which is "dedicated to making Nevada's capital city a better community for bicycling and walking through advocacy, education, and promotion of bike-and-pedestrian-friendly roadways, and bike-and-pedestrian-friendly development and redevelopment."

They may have a ways to go, but with $4 gas around the corner, our guess is they'll have plenty of company on the bike paths.



• This editorial represents the view of the Nevada Appeal Editorial Board.