Not Toys

I haven't been to as many meetings as my wife, preferring a "bottom-up" rather than a "top-down" approach to bike/ped activism, but I've gone to a few. Invariably, the city officials refer to bike lanes and paths as recreational. In my mind, these are transportation issues. Stadium renovations are economic development, not recreational issues. If I didn't know better, I'd say the civic leadership would rather have me sitting on my posterior drinking overpriced bad beer watching someone else do something physical than riding my bike to work.

On KCUR's Up To Date awhile back, there was a discussion of bicycle transportation. One caller said the solution is "load them on the back of the car and drive out to 175th Street. You can ride safely out there." Perhaps but I doubt even that point. Too many soccer parents with SUVs jockeying around out there. I see little use in loading my bike in a vehicle and carrying it more miles than I may ride it. I just want to go get a cup of coffee or see what's in my own neighborhood. If I wanted something down in the area I refer to as Northern Oklahoma, I'd move there.

Simply put, bikes are not toys. I have several and I enjoy them, but they aren't toys. There is a fixed-gear commuter bike, simple for getting back and forth to work. I have a touring bike capable of carrying stuff, for shopping. I have one that I just own for historical and interesting value. I have too many bikes. But I use them, for doing what I have to do, shopping, getting to work, going places. Too often, people want the same Trek Madone that Lance rides. Nobody would drive an Indy car to work. Well, almost nobody. People drive cars that they enjoy but we don't consider them toys. I have something that costs me nearly nothing compared to the price of even the low end of the automotive market and I get frequently harassed for it.

Bicycles delight me. I love looking at them, thinking about them, learning about them, tinkering with them. I can somewhat justify my obsession by placing them with new riders. At any age, it brings back the joy that came with learning to ride without training wheels. It's independence, self-sufficiency. When we can get around without fouling the air, without conceivably funding the other side in the war on terrorism, it's a great thing.

I went to the MS150 Bike Fair yesterday and came home with a beautiful old $25 Nishiki bicycle, that I want to clean up and put on new tires and get it into someone else's posession to ride to work. I'd love to keep this one with the beautiful lugwork and classic old steel frame but I don't have room to keep them all, so sharing them is the next best thing.