So you can imagine my distress at the increasingly cold weather we've been having. The bitterly chilly wind pushes against me and my strenuous efforts to pedal prove close to futile. The icy air seeps under my scarf and freezes my throat. The blood in my gloved fingers practically freezes as my paralyzed-with-cold fingers awkwardly grip the handlebars.
That toasty warm car sure looks good at 7:30 in the morning. And if I were just to take my mother up on her offer...
Mais non! I actually despise cars. Our car culture is part of what makes Americans so isolated. We pass mostly people on the street while in the shelter of our cars, whereas if we were walking or biking, we would all be having more direct and meaningful interactions. The French pedestrian/biking culture is what provides such a vivacious café culture. I love walking around Paris or Cannes and passing all the bicyclists with a fresh baguette from the bakery under one arm or a library book in their front basket. We see little snippets of peoples' lives which we wouldn't get if we were all cooped up in our cars. We don't all live within comfortable biking distance of our schools or workplaces, but there are usually grocery stores or libraries near by. Making the extra effort to bike when possible makes all the difference.
I also just love the opportunity biking gives me to be outside in nature, breathing the fresh air and zipping beneath the tree branches laced under the sky. In addition, there's the fact that driving provides no health benefits, whereas biking fits in a glorious twenty minutes of my day in which I am actively moving (even if I am painfully struggling against cruel winter winds). And the most obvious: cars are gas hogs which pollute the environment!
I'm resolute in my decision to resist taking the car in the morning. If more people made the effort to bike when possible, we could significantly reduce our carbon footprints.
Love this post. I really liked your imagery of being on the streets of France -- I'm likely staying in France for a couple months next summer, so I will definitely keep an eye out for the bike culture, and perhaps participate in it myself! I'm guilty of relying on cars for most of my transport, but if I lived a bit closer (and not right next to a non-bike-friendly overpass), I definitely would try out biking.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting!! Biking in France is really easy when on vacation because there are these bikes everywhere on the streets that you can rent for a few euros for the day. I'm sure you'd enjoy it :)
DeleteAnd I totally get why people who live far from school/work have to drive. Biking for me is only two miles to school from my home, but I don't know if I could handle biking the eight miles that a lot of uni students have to travel.
In the spirit of going against the flow of technology, I am proud to say that I continue to use old fashion stationary like fountain pens, bottled ink (as opposed to cartridges), old-style wax seals (dripped from a candle as opposed to using a wax gun or...tape). I am still using a Chinese seal carved out of granite as well as an oil based stamp paste. Although my preferred method of transportation remains stubbornly modern, I commend you for having the discipline and diligence required to brave the cold and bike to school every day.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I actually never rode a bike anywhere far because my house is in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally in the summer, I ride my bike around the neighborhood. It feels the same way you described it- breathing the fresh air and zipping beneath tree branches. It's a really nice experience. It also feels great to know your helping the environment while getting a workout!
ReplyDeleteIZZY! I was reading the economist and I chance upon an article talking about a CARDBOARD bicycle. Check it out!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21567200-transport-cardboard-bicycle-sounds-plausible-chocolate-teapot
Great post, Izzy! I love your description of the pleasures and social benefits of pedestrian/bike-orented city culture. I think Americans would be much healthier and happier if we all biked and walked more.
ReplyDeleteI have some advice: go to a local bike shop and invest in some bike-specific cold-weather gear. It makes winter biking so much less painful. I have an alpaca knit cap that's thin, lightweight, and toasty warm. It's designed to fit under a bike helmet, so it doesn't impede the function of my helmet. I also have some great biking gloves that mitigate the frozen finger effect (my fingers still get cold when I bike in cold weather, but not as cold). I admit that I'm a wimp when it comes to winter biking. I take the bus when it's truly frigid. But my winter biking gear helps extend my biking season further into the cold months, and enables me to get my bike back out much earlier in the spring.