I'm not sure what bike commuting has to do with this but yes, it's a 30 minute trip to the city centre from where I live and there's a bike lane the whole way. Living expenses here are lower than in the US but not dramatically so.

I don't see how it's an argument against finding a job in the trades that not literally everyone can do that. Not everyone can be a doctor either - doesn't mean you shouldn't chase that if it's what you want to do. Tons of people are more or less succesfully climbing the corporate ladder and have no desire to do anything else. This advice isn't for those people but the ones that are struggling with that or worrying that it is not AI proof - there are alternatives to it.

And yes nowdays I do own my bussiness but that wasn't always the case. I had a higher income as an employee. I traded that for more freedom and meaning.

There are some shady people in every profession, but most tradespeople aren’t ripping off customers too badly. It’s more like people who don’t work in the trades aren’t aware how expensive the operating costs are, like getting licensed/bonded/insured etc. Running a plumbing business is more financially complex than just buying materials and plugging them in to the clients’ home, so of course as a DIY homeowner you can skip a lot of nonsense. If you can do the work yourself, great! You save money and it gives the pros more time to help out folks who can’t do the work themselves.