Carbon Trace

Guilty!

Yes, I have used the term “lifestyle” on this blog. I have taken steps to stop using it. Call me persuaded.

John’s recent essay at Cycling Wichita is worth your time (and a second related essay that I’ll cover tomorrow). He’s fighting the good fight for normal people in normal clothes on normal bicycles re-constructing a sense of community in the United States — something that shouldn’t be a marketed and sold “lifestyle.” His conclusion:

Bicycle-riding thus, to my mind, has a significant role to play in the reviving of the importance of place as envisioned by the writers of Front Porch Republic–and the Cycle Chic movement is, to my mind a version of that role–assuming, that is, that it not be co-opted by consumer capitalism. Far from being merely a “lifestyle,” cycling is, in the deepest senses of the phrases, life-enhancing and life-affirming in ways no lifestyle ever could be.

Think of this as part of the theoretical foundation of the 1-mile Solution, which really isn’t a “solution” at all. That’s just a political term to gain momentary attention in our era of solution-searching. What the 1MS really is: Just getting on your bicycle and going about your business. No fancy bicycle. No fancy clothes. No special shoes. No burdensome load of extra stuff. And then discovering an entirely different — and, I would argue, better — way to be in the community.

I sometimes find myself explaining to mystified people that town bicycling can be really very easy if your home is close to some of your destinations. “The biggest surprise for me has been how easy this is,” I say of my five years of full-time utility bicycling. I also jabber on about saving money and staying healthy. And mostly they smile and shake their heads as if I’m nuts. I see the light bulb ignite over a few heads. That keeps me going.

(But I haven’t been talking about community. Not in person and not here on Carbon Trace. I need to change that.)

Then there are the ones who ask questions, the usual questions about sweating and rain and cold and cargo capacity. I no longer spend time answering these questions. Instead I tell them: “Go to this web site and look at the pictures.” And I hand them a link to Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

Best damned argument there is.

Mikael, of Copenhagen Cycle Chic, posted an essay about the good news and bad news of the Cycle Chic movement. Here’s the crux of it:

So the bicycle’s return to the public consciousness after a half a century of car culture is good news for everyone, whether they’re on a bicycle or not.

So what can be bad about that?

What I’ve been trying to say, between the lines, here at Cycle Chic for the past couple of years is that riding a bicycle is — and always has been — a rather simple thing. All you need is… a bicycle.

You have a closet filled with clothes, don’t you? If you’re walking about town, you’ll wear them. You have clothes for hot weather and clothes for cold weather. Whatever clothes you wear as a pedestrian are suitable for riding a bicycle. You KNOW this. You were young once. You did it then.

So now that I’ve started a ‘movement’ [which is admittedly much better than a 'trend'] I’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of companies intent on selling ‘cycling clothes’ for urban, everyday cyclists. Whenever a trend or a movement appears, there will always be people keen to make some money off of it. Such is a market economy. Fair enough.

It seems ridiculous, however, when people attempt to overcomplicate a simple thing. If you fancy riding sports bicycles for long distances in your spare time, or you like racing bicycles, you will require ‘gear’. I know this. I respect this.

If you want to ride a bicycle to work or the supermarket over short distances, you do not need ‘gear’. Just open your closet.

Then just get on your bicycle. Follow the rules of the road and ride to the place you want to go. Looking for a place to go in Springfield? How about downtown?

I do not participate in a lifestyle. I live my life. As part of living my life I get around my community on a bicycle. I do this because, for me, it is better to ride a bicycle than to drive a car. I’m seeing signs that more people in Springfield are making a similar choice — perhaps not to the same extent that I have. But I do see more bicycles in more racks around town than last year. I see more bicyclists on downtown streets — the easiest (and safest, IMO) bicycling environment in Springfield.

Technorati Tags: 1-mile Solution, bicycle advocacy, bicycle culture, bicycle politics, cycling, utility cycling