A 74-year old Democrat in Congress pushing to make roads safer thinks 'the bicycle is the key to much of what ails us'

• Biking advocates gathered on Capitol Hill on Thursday morning to push for federal legislation. 
• Rep. Earl Blumenauer has been a leading voice for bicycling in Washington for almost 30 years. 
• The Oregon Democrat says "burning calories instead of fossil fuel is how we will save the planet." 

Rep. Earl Blumenauer hasn't had a car in DC for all 27 years he's served in Congress. Instead, the Oregon Democrat bicycles to work on the Hill and to his engagements around the city. 

"It's healthier, it saves time, it saves a boatload of money, and I feel better," he told Insider of his biking habit on Thursday morning at a bicycling advocacy event in Washington.