I Can't Get No Respect

I often consider putting some horsepower between my legs and joining the motorcycle world. What a feeling it must be, zipping the highways, wind in your hair, girl on your back. But where did the biker image come from; did it emerge when Bob Dylan burned down Highway 61, or maybe right after Hunter S. Thompson crossed the line in Hell’s Angels? Hard to say, for now I’ll remain pedal-powered, but how can we (cyclists') elevate our image and promote ourselves as “cool.”

Should we all make vrummmm vrummmm noises while speeding down mountains (something I already do)? Maybe we could have our own bars, gangs, and “turf,” a place to gather and reassure ourselves that we’re cool cats on a two-wheeled mission. I feel we need to cultivate a badass image, instead of the 40 Year Old Virgin portrayal; because let’s face it, the bicycle gets around.

I’m also a bit disenchanted with this hipster business. To me, hipsters will stop riding bicycles when the next fad comes around, my guess, Razor Scooters. Though they surely promote the bicycle, the hipster flag flies directly in the face of what the bicycles all about for me.

I observe the bicycle being about non-attachment, slowed agenda, and reckless abandonment; not cardigans, scarves, and gourmet coffee houses. The hipsters muddy the waters, showing main-stream that the cyclists’ still a nerd.

I don’t desire a world of Mad Max bicyclists’; I’m just looking for a little respect. The bike deserves a fair reputation. So what we lack a motor, that doesn’t mean cyclists’ should be represented as wimps. I’ll die happy when a kid turns to his or her mom and says,”Mommy… when I grow up, may I ride a bicycle.”

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!