When I was growing up my parents practiced a type of parenting called "I'm sure they are around here somewhere" or what is now called "Notify CPS".
The rule was, you had to be home by time the streetlights came on. And from there on, the world was yours. In fourth grade I got a black and grey mountain bike that I named "Storm" (the same name I had planned for my horse whenever that came through).
I started riding bigger and bigger circles around my house. Slowly I felt my world grow. I could bike down to Nortons and buy a can of Koala. I could just do that. I would bike to friend's houses trying to not use my handlebars steering only with my knees. I remember gliding up to Alisa's house and in one smooth motion stepping off of my bike and on to her step. You didn't bike to "get in shape" you biked because it was the only way you could go places.
I got older and stopped naming my bikes. I got a drivers licence and could now drive to Nortons to buy a soda (they had stopped making Kolala for some crazy reason). My bike got a flat and eventually was hauled down to DI.
Then I went on this weird year long trip around the world. I can't pin down an event that caused it, but I somehow came back caring a lot more about our earth. And by "a lot more" I mean I'm willing to make tiny little sacrifices in comfort to maybe help. It just shows you how awful I was before that this is an improvement.
Anyhoo...I started looking at my huge and wasteful life and realized that most of my "kill the polar bears" car trips were carrying just my perfectly healthy body and a tiny bag of stuff 10 miles or less.
"Well," said the polar bear sitting on his melting ice "This looks stupid". I couldn't help but agree. "But" I countered to the polar bear who was now splashing his paws in the water "I live in the foothills of a mountain...huge hills man, everywhere" He rolled his eyes, "That is sooo tough" Polar bears are more sarcastic than we give them credit for.
So my internal guilt polar bear and I came to a compromise. I bought an electric bike. It is kind of like a regular bike except I go SO. Darn. Fast. Like me pedaling at top speed can be 21 miles on flat ground. I can speed up my huge hill at 5 mph. It gives me a tiny little work out...kind of like walking briskly on an incline. It takes me about 15 min to drive to Costco. It takes about 25 to bike there. This eats up most of my excuses for not biking.
I have a friend who bikes, for real. He has spandex and a skinny bike and goes for 100 miles before he takes a drink of water. He is super hard core and I really respect him for it. He yells "cheater" when he sees me on my bike. He is drenched in sweat and I'm looking fresh as a daisy. So I totally get it. And it is cheating to have an electric bike, but only if I were in the same game as him. I'm not.
And, I rather like the game that I'm in. Using a bike to get places has changed the way I think about trips. Is it raining? How many groceries can I fit in the bags I'm bringing? Can I change my outfit in time before the meeting? But this doesn't detract from my happiness, it actually increases it. I look forward to trips on my bike. I get kind of excited when we run out of milk. I bribe my son so he will bike with me to his orthodontist appointment. In the two months I've had the bike I have put hundreds of miles on it. My car usage has cut down to a trip once every four days or so.
But let's get one thing straight. I still sucker punch that polar bear all the time. In four days we are heading up to Washington to our cabin. And you'd better believe we are driving there. But I don't think it is about "cheating". It isn't about perfection. It is about doing something kind of good some of the time. I know I could be better. I could be a more real biker. I could be a more real environmentalist. But I'm not going to beat myself up on that. I'm just going to be glad I do what I do. Because, you know what, it is better than I used to be.
The rule was, you had to be home by time the streetlights came on. And from there on, the world was yours. In fourth grade I got a black and grey mountain bike that I named "Storm" (the same name I had planned for my horse whenever that came through).
I started riding bigger and bigger circles around my house. Slowly I felt my world grow. I could bike down to Nortons and buy a can of Koala. I could just do that. I would bike to friend's houses trying to not use my handlebars steering only with my knees. I remember gliding up to Alisa's house and in one smooth motion stepping off of my bike and on to her step. You didn't bike to "get in shape" you biked because it was the only way you could go places.
I got older and stopped naming my bikes. I got a drivers licence and could now drive to Nortons to buy a soda (they had stopped making Kolala for some crazy reason). My bike got a flat and eventually was hauled down to DI.
Then I went on this weird year long trip around the world. I can't pin down an event that caused it, but I somehow came back caring a lot more about our earth. And by "a lot more" I mean I'm willing to make tiny little sacrifices in comfort to maybe help. It just shows you how awful I was before that this is an improvement.
Anyhoo...I started looking at my huge and wasteful life and realized that most of my "kill the polar bears" car trips were carrying just my perfectly healthy body and a tiny bag of stuff 10 miles or less.
"Well," said the polar bear sitting on his melting ice "This looks stupid". I couldn't help but agree. "But" I countered to the polar bear who was now splashing his paws in the water "I live in the foothills of a mountain...huge hills man, everywhere" He rolled his eyes, "That is sooo tough" Polar bears are more sarcastic than we give them credit for.
So my internal guilt polar bear and I came to a compromise. I bought an electric bike. It is kind of like a regular bike except I go SO. Darn. Fast. Like me pedaling at top speed can be 21 miles on flat ground. I can speed up my huge hill at 5 mph. It gives me a tiny little work out...kind of like walking briskly on an incline. It takes me about 15 min to drive to Costco. It takes about 25 to bike there. This eats up most of my excuses for not biking.
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| My Sweet Ride |
And, I rather like the game that I'm in. Using a bike to get places has changed the way I think about trips. Is it raining? How many groceries can I fit in the bags I'm bringing? Can I change my outfit in time before the meeting? But this doesn't detract from my happiness, it actually increases it. I look forward to trips on my bike. I get kind of excited when we run out of milk. I bribe my son so he will bike with me to his orthodontist appointment. In the two months I've had the bike I have put hundreds of miles on it. My car usage has cut down to a trip once every four days or so.
But let's get one thing straight. I still sucker punch that polar bear all the time. In four days we are heading up to Washington to our cabin. And you'd better believe we are driving there. But I don't think it is about "cheating". It isn't about perfection. It is about doing something kind of good some of the time. I know I could be better. I could be a more real biker. I could be a more real environmentalist. But I'm not going to beat myself up on that. I'm just going to be glad I do what I do. Because, you know what, it is better than I used to be.
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