Biking for wimps

My morning began with a slap in the face.
In my previous post, I had imprudently revealed myself as eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring, and being tired of the trudge of winter. A reader took advantage of this weak moment, and accused me of having a "delicate constitution".
Humph.
I jumped up from the computer and took a few indignant paces across the living room. I must defend myself. I must protest and set the record straight. After all, not only do I have years of all weather commuting under my belt, I also have a proven track record of turning other people into...
But then the coffee kicked in and my brain started working again.
Where is it written that cycling is something that can only be practiced by people with strong constitutions?
Like it or not, the majority of people in this country still view cycling as a fair-weather activity whose purpose is primarily recreation, rather than transportation. There are many reasons for this, chief among them perhaps the long tradition of cheap, accessible and abundant fossil fuels, resulting in extravagant urban sprawl. Because of deeply ingrained habits and social conditioning, changing people's views to accept the bicycle as a viable form of transportation has been a bit of an uphill battle.
This battle has been fought on several different fronts, through advocacy, street happenings such as Critical Mass, even fashion. It has also been fought day in and day out in forward thinking urban bike shops, such as my own Rapid Transit in Chicago.
For the past fifteen years, we have been engaged in the battle for the hearts and minds of cyclists young and old, would-be and practicing, new and experienced, timid and die-hard, fair-weather and all-weather. And we have come to the conclusion that you can't win that battle with shock and awe. Chances are you will not entice a new cyclist by painting visions of snot icicles, foggy goggles, blue fingertips and admonitions about the importance of layers. You will not smooth the way for him by describing the joys of your 40-mile daily commute. I do not mean to deny that there is a contingent of folks who do find this appealing and fun. But if the point is to create more cyclists, than this is not a winning strategy.
The truth is that few people are warriors, and even fewer are warriors every day.
Most of us (including myself, my earlier indignation notwithstanding) are wimps. Different things is our lives make us wimps: habits, children, distance, weather, aches and pains, fear, sometimes age, sometimes youth, winter colds, whims, moods, barometric pressure, stress. And frankly, while the heroic feats of others may sometimes inspire us, they probably won't motivate us on a daily basis. If the bar is set too high, we won't even make an attempt to reach it.
So I make allowances. Bike a little. Bike when the weather is nice. Bike when you feel like it. I would rather have a million wimps rejoicing in biking one mile, than feeling guilty about not biking at all.

Related posts:
Biking goals
Some of us are wimps. Others - ninja warriors.
Bike if you want to
How to get more people on bikes
50 ways to leave your car
Riding motivation

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Comments

[Cortney]

Before I started biking I was terrified of it because my roommate is one of those die hard cyclists who rode all winter with her many layers and special biking boots. She bikes everywhere, everyday and that seemed like too much for me. It took a lot of convincing on her part, but she eventually made me realize that I can use my bike from April to November only if I want, that I can bike everywhere if I want but I can also rely on public transit when I have friends in from out of town or when I need a lot of groceries. Once I realized that biking isn't an all or nothing game, I was totally on board.

Thank you for writing this because I don't think that cyclists who are hesitant to ride in winter or really long distances aren't "real" or "authentic" bikers.

[sassr]

Sorry for the face slap! It really is tough to get out there every day all winter if you ride a bike that requires all kinds of special gear like clipless shoes, gloves, tight pants, etc.

This isn't the only way to cycle though. There are bikes that you can ride comfortably in normal warm clothes all winter. People do this in other cities with cold climates and it works in Chicago too. See http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com.

[Justyna]

Hey, thanks for identifying yourself as a Chicagoan. I'm actually one of these people who usually rides in normal warm clothes, except in extreme temperatures, when I may opt for some special outer layers.
If you are not familiar with this blog, you may want to check out some of the archives, where I do discuss, and even advocate, cold-weather riding. I am the first to admit that it is both possible, and fun. In fact, if I have one mission in writing this blog, it is to show people that biking can be seamlessly incorporated into anyone's everyday life with little or no special clothing, equipment or extraordinary expense.
I am also the first to admit that this winter has been a tough one for me personally. For whatever reason, I have been less committed to staying on my bike than in the past. The soles of my boots have seen more wear than the tires of my bike.
I feel a little wistful about this. Every morning a little after six I see out of my window a lone soul in utilitarian cycling gear. Day in, day out. Perhaps you are like him. I have only the deepest respect for that solitary rider. (In fact, I wrote an ode to him, scroll back a few posts ;-) )

[Julie]

Well-said, and thank you for saying it!

[cruiser bike]

I would say that using a bike each day will remove all the pleasure of biking. It is the place where biking as transportation and biking for pleasure come across. I think these points will never get to a compromise.

[Justyna]

I'm not sure if I precisely agree with your statement. I personally know quite a few folks who cycle every day, and see little distinction between cycling for pleasure and transportation. For myself, I feel that way about walking: I frequently walk to get places, but it also gives me great pleasure.
Perhaps I would phrase it a little differently. I think we can lose pleasure in things that we feel we have to do. If someone told me I had to walk everyday, after a while, the component of pleasure might be gone. Same with biking. I resent being told that I should bike. This is why I try never to tell anyone when, why, where, how long, and on what bike they should cycle. I believe that if your decision to ride a bike is purely voluntary, and based on a simple desire to enjoy riding (rather than being green, saving the world, losing weight, etc), it will be enjoyable, whether you are riding for pleasure or transportation.

[electric bicycle]

But again he is right because he said the majority of us ride for pleasure and recreation we are now trying to instilled in the american community that everyday duty can be done with a bike but it is not in us yet, we are used to our car.

[Alabama Biking]

Sweet blog .. can't wait to read your next..