The goodness of bikes
By Joe George
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.
–H.G. Wells
Ever since I was a little kid I’ve enjoyed riding bicycles. I can, in fact, remember the very moment my father released his hand from my little red bike and I pedaled free without training wheels. I’ve felt that same freedom on a bicycle ever since. So it’s only fitting that for my midlife crisis I didn’t grow a goatee and ride a Harley down Chippewa Street; instead, I bought another bike and rode it to Delaware Park.
 |
|
Joe George and son cruise through Buffalo.
Photo by kc kratt. |
My newest bike is the least practical of the five that I own, and it’s the only one that I purchased new. It’s a sporty little folding bike that’s easy to zip around town on. It’s my version of a sports car. I also have a tandem (my minivan) that I use to pick my son up from school. But the bike I ride most often is an old Trek that I purchased at a flea market for forty dollars. I call it “the mule” because of its baskets and front and rear racks. It’s my S.U.B. (sport utility bike). I’m a utilitarian cyclist, meaning I don’t tour or race; I use my bikes as everyday transportation. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t consciously ride for my health, to save money on gasoline, or to save the planet. These are just byproducts. I ride because I enjoy it, and to me there is a pure sense of accomplishment on a bike. I’ve carried laundry, a week’s worth of groceries, and even small pieces of lumber on my bikes. There’s something about using my own energy for propulsion—the sense that I am both the engine and the cargo—that really excites me. Mindlessly riding in a car is not nearly as fun.
I’m convinced that everyone would benefit from riding a bike now and again, and that they are easily obtainable by most people. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. If you work it into your daily routine, grabbing your helmet before walking out the door becomes as common as reaching for your car keys. Biking is also not just for the young, perfectly fit, spandex crowd. I’m in my mid-forties and suffer from creaky knees and reoccurring back problems. Weather conditions do dictate a certain dress sensibility, but basically when I ride I wear whatever I plan on wearing at my destination. No special clothes needed. All of my bikes are black; they either came that way or I painted them. It’s my tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of the famous Henry Ford quote, “You can have them in any color you want as long as it’s black.”
Bikes predate the automobile, and in the late nineteenth century were thought the most logical way to get around without a horse. Carl Burgwardt states in his book Buffalo’s Bicycles that in 1900 the Buffalo City Directory listed seventy-nine bicycle manufacturers and 136 dealers, and that it was because of the bicycle that road signs and rules came into existence. In many European and Far Eastern countries bicycles still outnumber other vehicles and are the most practical form of transportation.
According to Katie Alvord’s Divorce Your Car, the average speed of an urban car is around twenty-two miles an hour, which is not much faster than a bicycle. Indeed, I often find it quicker to run short errands on a bike than if I drove my vehicle in the city. I’m not able to use my bikes for all of my transportation needs; sometimes distance simply does not make it possible, and rain is the only element I will not ride in. I fall into the category that Katie Alvord calls “car-lite” (as opposed to car-free). I ride as often as I can, and sometimes as the wind whistles through my (thinning) hair I can hear the sound of music in the air and Roger Daltrey belting out one of the Who’s most classic lines: “I’m free, and freedom tastes of reality.”
Joe George is a longtime professional chef and frequent contributor to food publications and websites. He owns three ukuleles and five bicycles. To read more on his inept attempts at urban simplicity visit his blog at citysimplicity.blogspot.com.
Back to the Table of Contents
Back to Top