Bicycle

Bicycle

What we notice is relative to the speed at which we move through a landscape. Moving through on a bicycle, somewhere mid-way between walking and driving, slows us down enough to notice different things than we do hurtling past in a car. In addition to its obvious ecological benefits, and exercise benefits, cycling teaches us balance and coordination. It can be social. It takes us outside. Living in San Francisco years ago, my wife and I were always grateful for the masses of commuters pulsing through the city on bikes. Such style with the messengers on their fixies, grinding through down town, turning on a dime... Perhaps there's also something about a conveyance that we can fix. In the analog and mechanical nature of a bicycle, the way that, as a tool, we can understand its inner working (in a way that a car or a phone or a computer will never yeild to our eyes, will always be somewhat opaque) that reminds us of the virtues of simplicity. There's a feeling of independence knowing that we can fix a popped tire tube, or get the chain back on if it slips off. I remember the first bike I got as a birthday present– Royal blue banana seat Schwinn, and the first road bike I got at twelve years old: powder blue Univega, same color as the clear blue sky. I still love that color, and it still reminds me of that bike, a machine I found so beautiful.