I vividly remember the day, my tenth birthday, when I inherited my older brother’s nameless and battered 5-speed bike (yeah, with one of those gear levers)! For months I anticipated days of adventure, freedom – all of those small ponds, rivers, beaches (I lived on the shores of Lake Erie). I was not disappointed. There was not a road or cranny I failed to explore in Lorain County often starting early in the morning, biking til dusk, mindless of traffic, trucks, the rough roads.
All that ended, however, when I got my driver’s license at 17. But those feelings never left me.
When I moved to Chicago in ‘98, I quickly tired of the bus and the El commute from the North Side to downtown. So I got a bike and started riding seven miles to and from work. I cycled all seasons. Even in Chicago’s brutal winters, exposed to the gentle Arctic breezes wafting across Lake Michigan, I generated my own internal heat, arriving at my destination quite toasty.
Chicago is a great biking town. It’s flat, very flat and most streets are bike-able even though congested. The Mayor, Richard Daley, was a confirmed biker – “stop signs are for cars, not for bikes” he claimed. And blast through stop signs I did!
I now appreciate how much more dangerous it was back then and how lucky I was to survive my kamikazi, hell-bent-for-glory style uninjured. But I left work and stress behind, pedaling against the wind, cursing the drivers who cut me off, a happy middle-aged man reliving much younger days.
I became a serious commuter, convinced that the bicycle was the ideal mode of personal urban transportation and swearing off cars forever.
Unfortunately, health reversals sapped the strength in my legs and heart. By the time I arrived in Alexandria, there was no way I could manage the hills of Northern Virginia. And as good as public transportation is in this area, I just couldn’t abide by it. What to do?
I thought about this new invention: electric bikes. I discovered a dealer in Tacoma Park that offered an unbranded model made in Malaysia that was essentially a bike with a battery bolted to it. Very primitive, but it got me from Seminary Hill to my workplace in DC just off the Mall. An inspiring ride to say the least!
But once again, health issues stole my strength and affected my balance. The e-bikes I rode were of the kind that required no torque, no pressure on the pedals, no effort. Just twist the throttle and go. They did require moving the crank . I wishfully thought moving my legs constituted exercise; it did not. Even though I was commuting 20 miles per day, I gained no physical benefits from riding. Eventually, because I was not attending to my health, I could do no longer ride safely and stopped entirely.
When I retired (gee, it’s been four years already) I had completely given up. I could barely walk 100 feet before the pain in my legs and the pounding in my chest caused me to stop and rest. Clearly, I had to make a change, a big change. So I lost some pounds, I changed my diet, I began walking. At first 100 yards at a time, then a thousand, then miles. It took two years, exercising, first pilates and then yoga. I got stronger, my legs, my heart, my balance improved. I was back on my bike again!
But age and disease have taken their toll; there is no way I can manage the hills of Virginia. I need help, but I also need a challenge. Exercise is critical to maintaining my strength and health. My bike provides exactly that. It’s a Class 1 Pedalec – the motor only amplifies my human effort, it does not replace it. The hills remain just as steep and just as long, but for me, with assistance, they are possible.
Anyone who walks or bikes around this city inevitably encounters issues of safety and convenience. One definitely gets the impression that on city streets outside of an automobile you are an afterthought, an inconvenience. I took me a long time, and a lot of searching before I came to realize that safety and convenience are either pro-actively designed into pedestrian and cycling infrastructures or they are intrinsically un-safe. In that search I encountered the concepts of Complete Streets and Vision Zero. Complete in the sense that they are accessible to all, young, old, the very abled, the disabled, the adept, the naive: everyone! Vision Zero in the sense that we will soon see the day when our streets are inherently safe. When people on foot, on bikes, using alternative forms of mobility, and yes, in automobiles will arrive at their destinations safely without fearing injury or worse.
This city, this country, this world needs to take advantage of the most innovative of transportation modalities. We are at a juncture today similar to when the Wright brothers opened their cycle shop in Dayton Ohio in 1892 and 130 years ago, offered the ‘Van Cleve‘ model safety cycle, of very high quality and very expensive. The cycle shop was a victim of its own success as competitors mass produced cheap knockoffs. The brothers could not complete and left the business in 1902 for another preoccupation. You can’t defy physics, however; then as now there exists no form of human transport more efficient than the bicycle. The bicycle reinvented in the age of information.
Many years and many miles later, I still seek adventure and joy in city streets, bike paths, excursions to other places, cities and sights. Should you see some old man puffing his way up Braddock Road or King Street, please wave, it very likely could be me.