The history of religion has long been about spreading the faith to the ignorant and unwashed masses, yearning to be exposed to the truth and the way and the light and a better life, even if they didn’t know it yet.  Come to Jesus! or Mohammed or Yahweh or (insert your favorite prophet or deity or media star here) _________ , the true believers admonish, and you’ll never regret it!  Also never forget that the road to hell can be paved with good intentions, which can be true figuratively and sometimes literally, especially when it comes to things like religion.  I am thinking of horrors like the Spanish Inquisition and all the Holy Wars waged by one manner of Holy on another throughout human history, and today we have things like India morphing into a country only tolerant of Hindus, and white Christian nationalism threatening to upend the American democratic experiment, and on and on it goes.

I for one will readily admit to having taken part in this sort of thing in my day, though in a secular and far more benign fashion, which should come as no surprise to those who know me. Hey, I only meant to change the world for the better!  And it was not just me but lots of others before me, and nowadays includes a great many people more, some of whom have been far more active or even strident (not to say obnoxious) in spreading our particular gospel than I ever was.  I speak of course of those who’ve had a taste of the true and the beautiful, as our lives have been truly changed for the better, so why not spread the good news?  

In this case the gospel goes something like “stuff those imagined fears and your adult self-consciousness, and get on a bicycle!”  Or better, “get out of your car and onto a bicycle, for you  –  and the world  –  will be better off for doing that and you will never regret it” or other such words of wild-eyed enthusiasm and encouragement.  A simple message, really, and we knew what we were talking about, for hadn’t the transition, for us at least, been a relatively smooth one, which then led to oh so many wondrous things? 

In my own case it had indeed been totally seamless, almost like it had been meant to be.  And of course it all happened when I was in my early 20s when most of us have no idea where our lives are really going anyway, and we’ve few if any real responsibilities yet and all life transitions tend to be pretty seamless.  For years thereafter I tended to forget about this.  

I also overlooked the fact that for whatever reasons in my case, physical exercise has always come as a pleasure, and I don’t mean just that of the moderate and pleasant sort, but often something more like getting seriously sweaty and out of breath and even hurting sometimes, and wanting this experience on a regular basis, preferably every day.  There are of course those who run and swim and cycle and even pursue competition to the point of fanaticism, the ones who subscribe to the magazines and even obtain coaches, and that was never for me, though a few times in life I came close. 

I also have also always loved weather of all kinds, and being out in it, sometimes getting really cold or really hot or really wet and so what?, and finding ways to cope better though exploring all the possibilities offered by effective clothing.  I invested heavily in Gore-Tex clothing back when it was a new and unique product and still really expensive;  I paid what I had to and considered it money well spent.  It meant I could ride through rainstorms and stay dry and not die from the heat of sweat, though to this day anybody who employs “breathable” fabrics and works out will tell you they are by no means the final answer, especially if it’s above 40º.  What’s important is that we’re out there, running or cycling or skateboarding when nobody else with any sense can be seen attempting such things.  Biking to work was the ultimate outlet for this need, allowing one to idiotically prove, to all those folks, warm and comfy in their cars, that they were wimps and I was not.  Talk about satisfying! 

And one of the glories of cycling, for me, is you do it outside, Pelotons and other such indoor exercise equipment  be damned.  A great day at the Tour de France is one where they start out in the valley and ride all day at 90º or so, then make a turn up a mountain where they encounter up at the higher elevations rain, and then sleet, and then if it’s a truly excellent day, a bit of a snowfall.  One can get a taste of this sort of glory if one simply rides to work in all weather, as most jobs require you show up rain or shine.  Riding to work is, of course, just one aspect of the “cycling lifestyle” whereby one eschews travel by car, whether occasionally or more often or in some cases totally.  It helps if one needn’t wear a suit and tie, though there are some who work this out.  Then there is that very special case where riding the bike is the work itself, which some of us might consider a dream job, though admittedly “some of us” in this case means “hardly any of us”which just shows you we’re all really different, are we not?  And I am probably really really different from you.  

Of course, there are legions who walk and use transit to get to work and so many other things, but in this city (and most outside of Europe and Asia, I suspect), that lifestyle choice has its own special hardships that will not be discussed here.  I might mention, however, that only recently here in beantown a transit crisis drove some number to get on bicycles and a few of those rugged (and mostly youthful) individuals may never go back to the subway.  Of course if one can afford to switch to Lyft or Uber or even God forbid get a car that is another matter altogether, but then you’re stuck in traffic, though at least you’ve got your phone and time to stare at it, or your talk or sports radio station, but don’t get too worked up, please!  Remember you’re primary job out there to drive your car, a task all too easy to forget.

What is also essential to the daily-use cycling endeavor, and the well known dealbreaker for most, is that one tolerate riding in traffic, or even better, not mind riding in traffic.  Or in my own absurd case, one loves riding in traffic most of the time.  It is here, of course, where I have done all would-be converts a great disservice by disrespecting their heartfelt (and survival-driven) viewpoint that one should stay the hell off the roads.  Intellectually and emotionally they make a very very strong case, and “they” probably includes you, at least statistically, though I’ve really no idea what oddball demographic bothers with ravinginbeantown, having never bothered with all that SEO and audience analysis stuff which my hosting site endlessly tries to sell me.  At any rate, I and all the other true believers knew long ago about the absolute need to overcome people’s overblown (to our minds) resistance to sharing the streets with vehicles, to the point where we wrote books about it.

The classic and the first publication of this nature was a fat, spiral-bound tome titled Effective Cycling by a Californian with the name of John Forester.   It treated adult bicycle riding as a serious thing and a skill which could be learned, with elaborate streetscape drawings of traffic situations and the special ways bicycles could negotiate them safely.  Ride as if you’re a vehicle!  Be predictable!  Of course it’s dangerous  –  it is for everybody out there, don’t kid yourself  –  but it can be done safely on a two-wheeler, if one pays attention and knows the ropes.

Call it a Bible of sorts, our Bible.  Call it a revelation, that somebody thought what we were doing was important  –  riding bikes in the city, back when few gave it a thought and long before any dreams of “bicycle infrastructure” outside of Amsterdam.  Forester’s book, whose first edition appeared to be done on a home copier and must’ve been self-published, went on to inspire organizations like the League of American Cyclists, who used it for awhile in their bicycle education classes.  It was about more than just engaging traffic, included things about conditioning and efficient riding techniquesand had daunting charts about bicycle gearing.  There was nothing at all like it, out there, and the few of us that noticed at the time were captivated.  And at some point it was picked up by MIT Press and it is still in print, just like that other Bible.

At some point my own proselytizing instincts told me that Effective Cycling  was also way too long and not always engagingly written, also making it kind of like that other Bible.   So I took it upon myself to cover the topics I considered most germane, mostly the parts about traffic strategies and effective riding technique, and self-published my own wonderful short and readable booklet, which we sold at our bike store really cheaply, I forget how many.  What’s left of the first and only printing  –  engineered by my very supportive partner at the time who knew how to pull off that kind of thing  –  is still in my possession, because we old people hoard all kinds of things when we start to get dotty, especially anything of sentimental value.  I should add that that partner is now my wife and for her, as well, making the transition to cycling as a lifestyle choice was quite seamless for whatever reasons, most of which shall remain unknowable.  Let’s figure it was just one aspect of how we were a “good match” as they say in couples counseling, and that the ways of true love are many and often mysterious.  It is a fact that we’ve shared infinite joys together on our bikes, or something close to that, over lo these many years, and the chemistry of this has continued to work unabated to this day, when we are much slower and don’t travel nearly as far.

I don’t think it is too presumptuous to say that Effective Cycling came as a consequence of the so-called “bicycle boom” of the 1970s, when for the first time since the turn of the century adults in America started riding in much bigger numbers than had occurred since the initial biking craze of the 1890s, the one which had totally died with a thud with the advent of the automobile.  Wikipedia and other sources can give you the history of this but what matters here is that unlike that first boom, the modern one has continued unabated, though with variations, over the decades. 

What has not changed throughout all these years is the constant efforts of the true believers, through the writing of many books and the efforts of numerous organizations, to spread the gospel of the benefits of cycling to the American public, or more specifically, the motoring American public. The hardly-hidden agenda has often been to get people out of their cars.  I will not go into the specifics of how this is going, but let’s just say their efforts have met with some success in some places, notably a few cities like Chicago and NYC and Boston, and much less success in many other places, especially suburban and rural America.  This statement might offend more than a few people, for the fact is many places in America have  dedicated true believers making great efforts to promote bicycling in their communities  –  the odds are very good they are present in yours, at this moment, trying to work their magic.  The appeal of cycling speaks to many things, such as more livability and greater public safety, equality and more respect for all users of the streets and roads, the need for better laws and traffic law enforcement, and above all better and safer cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.  And now cycling’s greatest appeal has become linked to the issue of global warming, and how motor traffic contributes greatly to this, and how driving less will help save the planet while also cutting down on all the ways cars are killing and injuring us at a worse rate now than those that have prevailed for the past 50 years already.  All very worthy ambitions, wouldn’t you say?  

To which there has been much pushback.  This is a whole story in itself that shall also not be elaborated upon here, though it is another fascinating tale of how cultural norms die hard, or in fact never die at all.  The fact is, while bikers are much more visible than they ever were, at least here in Boston and Chicago and NYC (places where I have ridden), as well as cities like Minneapolis and Portland OR, which are true cycling hotbeds, the growth of regular bicycle use in America has risen to  –  wait for it  –  something like two or three or four percent, with Portland winning the prize for the most cycling commuters at something like 6%.  To which I’d like to cynically say “Well, hubba hubba to that!”.   But that would be the old me, while the new older and wiser (some might say resigned) me can only admire how many bikers that truly is, here in this America, and sincerely say “How about that, that is really something!” because it is.  America is not Denmark, and Boston or Portland or NYC will never be Copenhagen, and the true believers need to stop citing certain places in Europe as a meaningful role model for this country.  It’s apples and oranges.

Which is not to say that this true believer no longer knows in his heart that in cities at least, promoting a less auto-centric lifestyle is always a good thing, because cars and cities are a bad mix from the get-go. Spending just a day in my city will tell you why, especially if you are driving.  And cars used in moderation work out fine, even here, much of the time.  But the fact remains that up to now everything that makes life possible in all of America, if not much of the world outside of the most impoverished parts, is unimaginable without a car, and here I’d bet I am speaking for you, if not so much for myself (and don’t get me wrong I love having a car, now and since forever, though driving is a dangerous chore for the most part, and would you disagree with that?).   

Which brings us up to the present day, and this past Sunday’s edition of the Boston Globe, which had not one but three (!) articles about bicycles.  Coverage of bicycle matters is hardly something new for this news outlet, which has run occasional pieces all the years I’ve lived here, and I should know, since for most of those years I clipped and saved every single one of them, along with articles about all the ways cars were problematic, from the dangers due to poor drivers as well as all the ways cars use was destroying the planet.  Let’s just say it was all going to be part of an epic tome that would be the final word on these things, a Bible that I was going to write which would finally change the culture and Make America Great, not Again but actually for the First Time.  And let’s just say that that book never got written and the world is no worse off, and American Greatness is definitely a matter of personal opinion, wouldn’t you say?

In brief, the first article was one of those “Globe writer tries biking in Boston” which they’ve run in various forms many times, usually with mixed or negative results.  This one was by the business editor, where she found that following a guy on his eight mile commute was somewhat harrowing (which was obvious even to me when she described the route they followed, one that was truly awful).  Miraculously, though, she finished the piece describing how it inspired her to ride more around her neighborhood, which she found to be a great experience and one she will continue to pursue.  This result was truly different than what most past such pieces have concluded.

The second article was about how more and more hard-core “experienced” bikers are getting off the paved roads due to the growth in aggressive and distracted driving, and discovering the peace and serenity and safety of dirt and gravel roads in the area, including pedestrian paths.  I’ve heard about this trend and think it is problematic in its own way.  The fact is that many hard-core “experienced” road bikers have always preferred relatively wide and straight roads, often numbered state and county highways, because they like to ride in large groups at fairly high speeds in “training” formations.  They can be seen in large numbers every Sunday in certain suburbs, often making it difficult for cars to pass.  It is no wonder they’ve had some bad experiences with drivers, as far as I am concerned.  We’ve always done our recreational rides only as a couple or in small groups on winding circuitous backroads, almost every Sunday for years.  We are admittedly considerably slower than the serious club groups, but we can also report very few bad experiences due to cars and drivers.  Just sayin’.  

The third article was about how electric bicycles are the new factor that may just get a lot more people out of their cars.  If you aren’t living in a cave with no outside communication, you’ve no doubt heard something about e-bikes by now, or even seen a few.  They overcome the need to be physically fit to any great degree (or at all) to get out on a bike, and in my mind they’re just another kind of motorcycle, albeit it a low-powered silent one.  That said, a newbie can now travel at 20 mph for hours, and what is new is that that person can travel on bicycle paths and other “protected” infrastructure without consequence, even though the sign may say “no motorized vehicles”. The problem is that these rather narrow spaces were designed for speeds more like 10 or at most 15mph, which is pretty fast on a bike that is not in the street.  How this will play out is yet to be seen, though there are stories of bicyclists giving it up altogether, as their beloved bike path or protected lane is now crowded with speedsters, many of them working for delivery services.  This is especially true in NYC, though God knows what the growth in e-bike use will bring, and e-bike use is definitely growing with real momentum.  Look out.  I for one have generally preferred riding with the cars, as no place is more unpredictable than a bike path, full of walkers and baby strollers and skateboarders and more than a few cyclists who ride like irresponsible children.  Bike paths have their obvious charms, no doubt about it.  A whole new generation of true believers is gravitating to the e-bike and its potential promise, but where this will lead is anyone’s guess.  Many of the “bicycle movement” people are very excited and perhaps a bit starry-eyed.

As for this true believer of many years, those meant to find their way through this world using a bicycle as their primary conveyance will likely discover the joys mostly on their own, like the rest of us have who’ve made that choice.  Almost all who do this will be city dwellers, and right there you are greatly limiting the pool of potential candidates.  That’s just the way our culture has set the whole thing up, here where the Car is King.  Whether the electric car or bicycle will help us to avoid destroying civilization as we’ve come to know it, along with all the other changes that will be required, is anybody’s guess.  All I know for sure is that using a bicycle as a first choice for getting around has proven to be a wonderful and extraordinarily convenient and aesthetic one for me for a long time now, and I also understand  –  and accept  –  that it’s probably not for you for all your good reasons, and that’s okay.  At least I am a true believer whose beliefs are based on experience and not faith, so in the end maybe it’s not a religious thing, at all.  I wouldn’t have it any other way, and as far as I can tell, Jesus didn’t ride.  He may have understood eternity but he knew nothing about the joys of rolling through farm country on a fine summer’s day, or getting around and about a crowded city without delay, any time of day and always finding a parking space nearby that is always free.

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