Go Ride A Bike
Now that I have your attention... Of course, this is not what I am advocating or expecting when riding a bike. I just found this funny picture on my phone. Taken around Halloween outside a thrift shop.
When our boys were little, I prided myself on the fact that we introduced them to some major cities- how to navigate getting around and how to enjoy all that those cities had to offer. I took them regularly to Washington DC ( how I managed a double stroller, two little ones and the DC Metro, I haven't a clue) and occasionally to NYC. We used bus, subway, metro, or train. As they got older, they felt comfortable navigating those places by themselves and even introduced their friends to those cities via mass transit. Over the years, I felt that I had exposed them to all the main places in those cities as well as some of the off-the-beaten pathways.
At this juncture, we have one boy living outside NYC and working in the city and another living outside DC and going to school in that city. I realized that both boys have completely surpassed me in their knowledge of their respective cities: the off-the-beaten-path places to eat, the free events, the best way to navigate the crowds and get around the city.
I attribute it to their natural curiosity but also to their use of bicycles as a means of transport. On a bicycle you get to see more of the details of a city; perhaps the small sign announcing a lecture at a local museum, a side street that cuts across a major thoroughfare, or a hole-in-the-wall serving The Best Pizza Ever local restaurant.
I love to explore new places on a bicycle. While I enjoy using my bike for transport- being able to get from here to there under my own steam- the truth is, I am just nosy. I like to look at other people's homes- to get inspiration on how their gardens grow, what type of paint color they are using, imagining the people who inhabit those homes.
On a bike you can view homes and situations in a timely manner; not too quickly as in a car and not too slowly as with walking. If you would slow down in a car, you would be noted as a possible stalker and if you sped up with walking you would be reported as up to no good. On a bicycle you are semi-invisible. You also have the freedom to stop wherever you are and explore the environment on foot.
Using a bicycle can get you to places rather quickly- especially in this day and age of TRAFFIC. Click here for a fun video.
On a bicycle you get some exercise, protect the environment and see the sights. What more can you want? On these nicer spring days, a bicycle ride clears one's head and gets the blood pumping and moving as a prep for work to be done. In a couple of weeks it will be National Bike to Work Day -May 18th with the week leading up to it as Bike to Work Week. If you haven't ever done so, why not plan on it this year? Brush off the cobwebs from your bike. Take it to a local bike shop for a tune up and going over. Plan out your route to work. Try it.
If you work from home or have a car office due to traveling, why not plan on biking either before or after work. In some cities they have City Bikes- bicycles you can rent for a period of time. On May 18th, if you find that you are near one of those kiosks, try biking for 30 minutes at lunch.
You may find new places and routes in your city or town that you have never seen before.
More info regarding Bike to Work Day.
Community Connections
"Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Collisions at Sea"
The above is a headline in today's The New York Times. Basically, the Navy is going back to, well, basics: sailors getting more sleep, spending more time on ship maintenance, employing basic seamanship.
It seems that all professions have the tension between the use of technology and the basic, common skills that have been used over time.
When I was employed at a well-known teaching hospital, I was in a training program for working with critically ill patients. During one of the classes, the instructor gave wise words: "Always check the patient."
She went on to tell us the story: When she was a newly trained critical care nurse she was very enthusiastic and diligent to do exactly as she was instructed. On one of her rounds she dutifully kept an eye on the cardiac monitor. To her shock, she witnessed the monitor showing that the patient was experiencing ventricular tachycardia- extremely fast heart rhythm. The first response to that problem is to shock the heart back into regular rhythm and can be done so by a whack on the chest. The nurse ran into the room, went to the patient's side and "thumped" a hard fist in the middle of the man's chest. He sat bolt upright, "What the [expletive} do you think you are doing?"
Turns out he had been sleeping.
As she reminded us, technology is a great tool but never forget your basic assessment of patients.
I have felt that our culture needs to remember the basics of human interaction. We are all too quick to allow technology to overshadow or replace our role as social beings.
Over the last couple of days I have been able to use my bicycle to accomplish some errands. It has been beautiful fall weather and peddling through the streets noticing the mums, pumpkins and turning leaves has been a treat.
One thing that I have always noticed when I cycle, is how connected I feel to my fellow pedestrians and those who are out and about sans l'automobile. In a car, I am so isolated. I barrel down the road and don't really get a chance to interact with anybody. Yet on my bicycle as I meander through town I can aid the woman confused over a street address or buy a sandwich for the man down on his luck or smile and wave at the toddler tentatively waving in her stroller.
My interactions aren't earth shattering. Just a connectedness with other human beings. Yet I am back to basics- communing with people as we were traveling around.
One of my stops was at a local coffee shop to enjoy a cup of joe and to soak up the ambiance. As I sat there, I overheard a couple of conversations. In each grouping the dialogue may have been different but the theme was the same: community, spending quality time with one another and being authentic in our relationships.
It seems as if I hear more and more people expressing their tiredness with being a faceless entity- an initial or first name post among many other faceless posts. They want to be known for their individuality. They want to go back to the way people use to interact. They want to be known.
On one hand, the computer and the global network has connected us with long-lost friends and family and has connected us with new friends in different cultures. But the technology era has also ushered in more isolation and with that, despair and depression. Try as we might to avoid it, we are designed to live in community.
I certainly have had my fair share of not wanting community. I have been known to duck down another aisle in the grocery store just to avoid talking to someone I know. If I had my druthers, I would probably sit in isolation and only communicate by banging out texts and notes to people. Yet, I also know that when I don't engage with others, I miss out. I miss their immediate reactions to statements. I miss out on immediate feedback. I miss out on perspective, where do my thoughts fit into the big scheme of things?
My bicycle jaunts have me engage more with my surroundings. I find that I like it. My community engagements are not long encounters. They are not overly deep. At least for now. Yet there is always something I get out of the encounters, some new idea or thought or outlook. I hope that is true too for the person encountering me.
I feel that I am getting back to basics, employing the foundational elements that connect us as humans: building community.
What about you? Do you ever feel the need to get back to basics? To spend some time with the people around you? Do you have the opportunity to interact with strangers? To share a small greeting? What is preventing you? Do you have time in your life to occasionally slow down when you do your errands? To bike or walk to get groceries, coffee or milk? Could you try it once a week, once a month, once a quarter? If you did get back to basics, what would be your headline?
"Cyclist Returns to Interacting With Previously Unknown Individuals to Build Community."
May- National Bike Month
The start- 1/4 of those who rode were assigned this time of 8:45 am. We all entered from different streets. The weather was a continuing mist/rain throughout the day.
Yesterday, my husband, our one son and I road the Five Boro Bike Tour in NYC. What a blast! We road 40 miles (actually almost 50 when considering the bike travel to and from the starting place) through Manhattan (starting by Battery Park, riding up 6th Avenue, Central Park and Harlem), The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and finishing on Staten Island. We went over 5 bridges and road on the FDR Drive, the Gowanus Expressway, and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. There were 31,997 other cyclists joining us!
It was quite a thrill to have the roads free for cyclists. At every intersection there were NYPD and/or Bike tour volunteers to ensure no auto crossed through the intersection and to help any pedestrians cross. Riding across the bridges was something. When I am in a car I don't even think of the elevation and incline in going up to the top of the bridge. Now I know.
The bike tour started in 1977. It is one of the main events for Bike New York. Bike New York's mission "is to facilitate and promote cycling as a safe and sustainable means of recreation and transportation through free bike education classes, public events and collaboration with community organizations and municipal agencies." The money raised goes toward funding free bike education programs.
No matter the skill level, they have classes: there are classes for learning to ride for adults and kids, bike practice sessions, bicycling basics, bike path cruise ride, street skills class and street skill ride. They teach classes on bike commuting, winter riding, bike maintenance, winter bike maintenance, family cycling, how to buy a bike, bike safety. They also offer after school and summer camps for kids. Last year they taught bike skills to more than 17,000 people.
It was just fun to be part of a collective, all riding together. Everyone we encountered was pleasant and it seemed as if everyone was looking out for one another. As with anything that takes place in NYC, the people watching was worth the price of admission. Throughout the day we kept seeing these three gentlemen riding along wearing capes and cavalier hats (complete with a plume of feathers) over top their helmets (a requirement for riding). Alas, when we saw them towards the end of their ride, their feathers had flopped due to the rain.
Some people are fanatical about cycling while others are just enthusiastic. I would say that our family is enthusiastic. The son who was with us (it was his idea for us to participate) is a cycling enthusiast in that he doesn't own a car and uses his bicycle for commuting as well as for leisure. Of course, he lives in the Tri-State area and has the advantage of great mass transit.
My husband is involved with a local bike co-op which mostly refurbishes bicycles so that people who do not have the means to have a car have some type of transportation that provides a little more freedom and exploration than just walking.
I know that I have penned the attributes to cycling in the past. I use a bicycle mostly for leisure and getting some exercise. Though I do try and use it for certain types of errands- not too far a trip and not too heavy or multiple items to carry.
As this is National Bike month I would encourage you to revisit your bicycle. If you have one stored in a garage, pull it out, dust it off and take it to a bike shop (or do it yourself if you are able) to get it ready to ride. If you have never ridden before or it has been a while, check out your state or local bicycle advocate groups. Many offer bicycle riding classes and lessons for riding on the roads. For example, Bike Maryland is the advocacy group for bicyclists in the state of MD. The The League of American Bicyclists is a national organization. Even some local bike shops will offer classes on riding, bike maintenance, etc.
Cycling is a great way to see your surroundings. Time goes by at a slower pace. You can pull off to the side of the road for those impromptu adventures- stop and go into a store you always whiz by in the car, say hello and chat with a neighbor planting in her garden, watch some neighborhood kids playing a pick up game of soccer, notice the architecture and gardens of various neighborhoods. All the while enjoying the sun and fresh air on your skin. Plus you can feel good about the human powered machine and that you have kept your carbon print low.
What about you? Have you ever been part of a collective group event? Run or walk for a charity? How was it? Did you enjoy the experience? Would you do it again or was it a once and done? Have you ever gone on a long-ish bicycle ride? Where and with whom?