I'm realizing that I've only half committed to this idea, admitting the relatively small goal biking to work only anonymously on a blog. And although I have this small goal (2 times a week on average) I don't have a clear view of the reason why I have this goal. Perhaps writing will help me figure it out, for I've noticed that I give up on things that don't seem to fit my outlook and values, or appear not to at the time.
What thou lovest well remains,So, why ride? There is the cheapness that is the origin of this blog. Don't think cheap is a bad thing. It means efficient, saving resources (both money and non-renewable energy sources). I'm not alone, the environmental/stewardship/saving money enters into the thoughtful Minuscar project and what seems like a horde of middle aged males who blog about biking instead of driving like You don't want to; crazy bike commuter, MN bike commuter. Admittedly I think this may have been the driving factor that caused me and others to drag out bikes when gas prices were at $4 a gallon. But I'm not sure this is what is keeping me going. Consider that I've still spent more on bike gear than I have saved on gas (partly because gas prices have gone down). The direct environmental benefits (less carbon, less non renewable fuel used) seem to be pretty slow to add up. But they are adding up. Plus, the more practiced and fit my legs get, the more I'll ride. I'm guessing I'm 30-40 pounds more than I ought to be and getting rid of any portion of that ought to help. But the impact on the environment may not be directly from the miles ridden and more though the changes in perspective, ability to think clearly, and to be inspired.
the rest is dross
What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee
What thou lov'st well is thy true heritage
- Ezra Pound
Lets consider the inspiration others have (as found on the web:)
I read the incredible adventures of a newspaper writer and biker Jill Homer in Alaska and she seems driven to bike, convincing me as I read that she is enjoying subzero challenges and slogging through fluffy snow. She is training towards a goal, being fit for racing. I have some more enthusiasm on days I ride. While my health, or at least my weight, is improving I'm not sure that is the main reason keeping me going. But exercise hasn't really motivated me, look at my gut to prove this.
Is it the challenge from an individual ride? A mountain climber once said it was worth climbing nearby hills as "You can't feel bad about your self when you're climbing." This might be part physical sensation - a "runner's high"?
Biking is unlike other transportation like flying in a plane, or zipping around in a car. YOU are achieving something. You are doing the moving. The bike includes us:
Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds.
The airplane simply carries a man on its back like an obedient
Pegasus; it gives him no wings of his own.Louis J. Helle, Jr.
To bike is to accomplish something yourself. Travel by bike for its own sake Kent Peterson's Three Hour Tour post. He says it well:
Our devices capture mathematics in metal, casting abstract ratios in solid cogs and chains. Hard roads yield to soft rubber and the resiliency of captured air. Our legs don't pound, they spin. We need not walk or crawl, for we roll with a strength so smooth it seems like flying. Our simple machines, machines that cannot even stand alone without us, come to life when we balance on saddles and dance on pedals and reward us by taking us farther, faster, than we could ever go alone.A thrilling feeling, but is enough to accept traveling to work at a slower pace as opposed to just biking on the weekend for sport? Why commute slowly? Just to save additional time at the gym? I'm not sure I'm that thoughtful about my time management.
I get to ride such a machine three hours each day going back and forth to work.
There is much poetic moments noticed by others on the web: Ecovelo has a category of "amazing little things" seen during a commute that would have been missed when driving, making the everyday full of wonder and small bits of joy. Rick Smith's Yehuda Moon comic is all about love of biking, look through all the archived comics for the engaging characters and story but I like this and this or this or this. While a given ride can't guarantee such moments of insight they do have their pull.
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| From Bike Route |
Finally there is the sense of moving in an awesome landscape as opposed to driving by it and just seeing it. I've thought of how people pay to take tours through the area I'm bike in every morning and afternoon. There are plenty of marks on the road from the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen and the Coalition for Buzzards Bay watershed ride. Hundreds of people go out of their way to carve our time (and finances) to pursue a recreational visit to where I commute. I am beginning to understand the draw. Its not just the little details, but the overall feeling and experience. I have gone back to my longer ride home through Hiller Farm as it is just so much more spectacular than the shorter, suburban trip through Rock Village (still a nice New England village and a pleasant ride). I feel a part of the open spaces more than the many private house lots. The lift from the brilliant afternoon light as I go by the old farms and open fields and crossing Snipituit pond is something that constantly rewards a visit. All it means is a few more miles and minutes. Its funny, but I don't feel moved to go the same route by car, then I just want to get home. In the car I don't experience the environment, I experience a ride in the car.
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| From New bike pictures |
This is the difference that seems most important to me at the moment. My commute is no longer really a commute of 20 minutes changed to 60 minutes. It is not a time period, it is a journey into and through the land. On the most basic level it is one of the few times I'm doing something outside during the school year. What use to be living in a place if you don't choose to be out in it? I am not passing through the area that is an obstacle between home and work. I'm part of this wide community (both human and natural) and I'm living here.
