Free As The Wind

Blog 2013 09 18 Free As the Wind

People get so worried when we talk about moving away from a carbon-based economy.  We so rely on the gasoline that feeds our car and the natural gas that warms our homes.  We don’t want to reduce our lifestyles.  But I believe in many ways, if we were to slow down a little and ride our bikes more often, life would be more fun.

I got my first bike when I was 10 years old.  Suddenly my whole world opened up.  The amount of the city and the numbers of things I could do without parental oversite increased exponentially.  I was free.  I had power.  I could go where I wanted to when I wanted to.  I loved it.  I explored the city of Saskatoon on my side of the river and I had a ball.

As an adult, I didn’t even have a bike for a long time.  I tried biking a few times but wasn’t in good enough shape to handle the hills where I lived.  Since I moved to Ottawa, however, things have changed.  With two knee replacements, I wanted to bike as a way of keeping my knees strong and bending well.  I bought a bike at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa sustainability fair.  I lucked out and got a really good one—a Peugot. 

The first day I limited myself to riding up and down my tiny little street.  I was so tentative.  I had to practice turning around and see if I could still balance myself on a bike.   A few days later, I tried going up and down the streets in my neighbourhood where there was little traffic.  It’s amazing what you see and who you talk to when you are riding a bike through a neighbourhood.  You actually start to believe like you are in a real place, with real people walking around or sitting on their porch.  You see the place as warmer, and friendlier than when you just whiz by and never talk to anyone.  You find out about stores you didn’t know were there.  There’s a man selling vegetables right on my street—his own little market.

Gradually I built up the confidence to get out of first gear and go a little faster.  I learned how to ride in traffic.  I went to my Transforming Community Meetings about two kilometres away on my bike and discovered new neighbourhoods.  I started biking to the pool for my swim.  My bike became a useful tool I could use for transportation.  The next year I started riding my bike downtown to volunteer at USC Canada.  I found the river trails that go on forever in Ottawa.  What an exhilarating feeling to speed along the river in the sun and the wind, the water and the trees.  You feel so alive.  You feel directly a part of this wonderful living planet of interconnected beings. 

This year I find I have built up my strength so I can take the hills up the bridges without getting off and walking.  I can handle myself on roads where traffic is going 80 kms an hour.  I can use my bike as transportation to get to meetings 15-20 kilometres from where I live.  I can shop for groceries on my bike. 

I realized one day that when I use my bike this way I get outside to enjoy the natural world much more often for at least an hour or two.  I escape from my computer and breathe the fresh air.  Life is good.  Life is wonderful and I love it.  Stop thinking your life is going to be worse if we have to give up carbon and start thinking about the new opportunities you will have to enjoy life a different way.