Sunday Morning Blog

October 23, 2005

Economy of Simplicity

A bicycle, or bike, is a pedal-driven land vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. First introduced in 19th-century Europe, it evolved quickly into the familiar current design. With over one billion in the world today, bicycles provide the principal means of transportation in many regions and a popular form of recreation and transport in others. -From Wikipedia

Does anyone keep track of their fuel economy these days? For the past several months, I have been plugging my mileage and fuel purchases into a handy online calculator at www.fueleconomy.gov. This simple task has helped me keep tabs on the depressing rise in fuel costs. It also alerted me to a sudden drop in my fuel economy of 1 mile per gallon this month. I am interested to find out if there is suddenly something wrong with my well-maintained vehicle or if the fuel has recently changed. I am not leaping to conclusions of some conspiracy, but I am concerned about this unexplained decrease. The bicycles grow more attractive by the day.

The bicycle, which I credit for simplifying my once complicated life, is regaining its status as a sensible form of transportation these days. Unfortunately, I must confess that my personal use of motorized transport has increased in recent months. Last year I received a 5% insurance discount due to the low mileage I put on my vehicle while cycling. This year, between moving and numerous home improvement related trips, I don't expect I will be eligible. My affection for bicycles has not been reduced, however household duties have often trumped cycling. Years of standing on concrete floors all day has also caused my knees to protest simple motions (including hard pedaling). Cycling is touted as one of the easiest exercises on the knees, but mine sometimes disagree.

Last month, when helping clean out my grandfather's house, I was given the care of two antique bicycles in need of some TLC. The simple act of bringing these dust collectors back from the dead is worth every ounce of effort. Unlike much in our disposable society, for some of us, bicycles hold their value. This value may not necessarily be monetary, but their utility endures. As a child this value was recreational. I remember hours spent playing on bicycles, circling the driveway, and later the neighborhood. There was also a measure of exercise, yet to be appreciated. As the years passed, the bicycle became a means of escape- the transport that got me downtown. Today, bicycles offer me all of these. They get me outside in a world often missed behind rolled up windows. The bicycle offers inexpensive transport, and exercises an aging body that requires more effort than when I was younger. Working on bicycles and keeping them tuned can bring home the satisfaction of an effort with purpose, and can also be great therapy. We Cape Codders have always appreciated our solitude, but in modern times that escape does not often accompany our industry. We all need to find serenity somewhere. I find mine in books, nature and bicycles.

Here in America, we are consumers. Many of us waste away our days envious of the “haves” and consider ourselves and others as suffering the plight of the “have nots.” Despite this perception, we must be dragged, kicking and screaming into giving up the selfish pleasures we so often enjoy, and are often too stubborn to change our ways, even in the wake of restrictions placed on us by the harsh realities of life (i.e. natural disasters, economic conditions, etc.). The simplicity and joy I have discovered in bicycles and cycling is just one example of the many simple things available to us in life that we so often ignore. Solutions to our every day problems are often right in front of our eyes waiting to be discovered. Rather than blame real and imagined forces for our troubles, it is more fruitful to examine where we are impeding progress ourselves. The temptations and indulgences of life often blind us from simple solutions that must start individually and locally before there will ever be possibility for widespread change. This is as true of politics, energy and finances in my life, to God, country, education or peace in yours. It all starts with us- at home, and right in our back yard.

Posted by capecodcyclist at October 23, 2005 09:27 PM