I do love to ride my bike. I have been thinking a great deal about the immeasurable pleasure I experience whilst propelling myself through the world. This tour enables me ample time to ponder long and strange avenues of thought, all from the saddle of my steed. I imagine the motion of the body, though it is not walking, could hold the same characteristics of peripatetics. While biking, the body’s movement welcomes new ideas and thought processes to develop and emerge.
One such idea sprouted on a much-anticipated ride for The Birds and I. We were finally heading south again, away from the energy and excitement of the big city lights that make San Francisco so alluring; we were heading south again on our bikes. I was feeling oh-so-good that I started thinking about how everyone must feel oh-so-good, while on a pedal-powered steed of his or her own. My mind couldn’t help but extrapolate my feelings of pedal bliss, to the realm of world peace. Now, this may seem naïve and idealistic, probably because it is, but I am comfortable with that.
I do believe that biking could be a tool or mechanism to alleviate much of the negativity in the world. A smile cannot be stopped when someone hops on a bike and a smile every day means improved and sustained emotional health. It can improve and maintain physical health. Biking also has the power to reconnect people and communities by simply being open in the world. Cycling also has the ability to contribute to local and rural economies by purchasing food from markets and café’s along the biker’s route. Instead of oil as a fuel, biker’s need food, human produced help (directions), water, and food. So, not only is a biker negotiating herself geographically without the use of oil, she is also contributing to the local food economy which she is biking in or through. Now, here’s where the extrapolation comes in. What if everyone biked? I don’t mean 10 minutes on Saturdays. I mean all the time or even 90% of the time!
We would have to slow down, quite literally, as the average bicycle speed is around 14km’s an hour. I believe we would be happier and healthier. Possibly flight travel would decline, and people would travel in a smaller radius of their place of habitation. This would contribute to local economy while also reducing the need to use oil for travel with flights and cars. People might be happier, distance may gain respect again, and physical health would be integrated into our lives instead of slotted into hour sessions at the gym.
I’ll wrap up my love letter to bikes with this: If world leaders had to ride their bikes to meetings, would their motivation to secure international oil fields seem like a good idea still? I think not.
Love,
Elkmother.
Birds on Bikes 