I bike for a number of reasons: it's good for my health and in many cases it's faster. I think, though, that Tim over at Car Free Days captures what might be the most compelling reason for me: Every Day Adventures. Tim says:
- The title of the Xtracycle blog, Every Day Adventures, has it nailed. That’s exactly what we experience when we ride. Junk on the side of the road, interesting smells, hills, wacky people, cool sights, sweat, rainstorms, shouts of “you rule,*” speed, found money, and of course, our smiling, happy children enjoying fresh air in the city. We feed off this stuff. Our kids enjoy riding. We enjoy riding.
The camping trips, music festivals, ice cream cones and the like are wonderful, but are really just icing on the everyday cycling cake.
Unlike car travel where you are always in a hurry to get somewhere, when we’re on the bike the trip is the adventure. On the bike, the trip is living.
*(Anne got that on Friday; I got the middle finger on Tuesday. I think her better legs must tip the odds.)
I enjoy experiencing the city and its people (granted it's not always positive but that comes with the territory I guess). A bike, and to a lesser extent transit really isn't designed to insulate you from the world and as such a trip across town, even for no reason at all can be an enjoyable experience. That same trip in a car is in such a controlled environment (temperature, music, smells, and interactions people all tightly controlled).
There are times I have been riding through a neighbourhood, smelling the food, listening to whatever music was playing and watching the people and I am just happy to be here. I may be alone in this but the only experience I have while driving in the city is an impulse to get it over with as quickly as possible.
Anyone else? Have any adventures on the bike this week? See anything interesting, meet any strange or wonderful people while you've been out?
