Encouraging Visions

Boulder, here’s a big thumbs up! You deserve it. One of the greatest and most amazing things about this little city is the fact that (at least when the weather’s warm) there are actually enough cyclists out riding at the same time that we create bike traffic – yes, traffic of bikes.

Cruising down Folsom and seeing lines of cyclists stretching back from the red light ahead of me is a beautiful sight. Beautiful to the brink of tears . . . well if not that far, at least to the point of providing brief glimpses of the biking world to be. Truly, these little bicycle traffic jams of promise give me encouraging visions of what our world, when driven by legs and two wheels (or I guess also one, and maybe even three), could look like:

Cruising down Folsom and seeing lines of cyclists in front of me, there are no colored lights. There are no traffic lights, only smiling rolling people. They are singing. Music is always playing like a soundtrack in a movie about cities filled with bikes. The lightning bugs are everywhere, and on the corner, that dog is dancing the merengue. It is always dancing the merengue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc9xq-TVyHI). The music of the dancing dog is not interrupted because there are no more squeaky brakes or grinding jumpy derailleurs. There are only greasy chains and brightly ringing bells and lightning bugs and sunshine. Plenty of mustachios blowing in the breeze and bike-blended smoothies for everyone. The whole earth is blue and green and the shooting stars are brighter than the fireworks. Cruising down Folsom and seeing lines of cyclists stretching out in front of me, there are only people and bikes.

Bicycle traffic is inspiring because it shows, in a literal, physical way, that biking on a daily basis as a mode of transportation is not only possible, but that it’s happening – people really do get around this way. Keep up the good work right here in Boulder, as well as in any other city, town, village, or hamlet you happen to ride through. Your bicycling presence shows us all what’s possible. Ride smart, ride safe, and pedal hard!