I was coming off my gravel ride today and heading to work when I saw a roadie ahead of me, and so I put my head down and tried to close the gap for a bit of an interval effort. He was really moving, so I had to really work for it, but I did get on his wheel eventually. After I’d had a chance to catch my breath, I came up next to him and said something like “hope you didn’t mind me catching a wheel for a second there,” which he didn’t.
Then he commented on my dirty gravel bike and asked what the trail conditions are like in the area, because he’d been just on the road for a few months and hadn’t hit the dirt in a while, and so I filled him in. He thanked me, we complimented each other’s bikes, and then our routes split and we went our separate ways.
It was just a nice, friendly interaction of the type that you can’t have on a freeway. And imagine, if bike commuting was commonplace, we could all be having those kinds of interactions all the time. Instead, we’re all isolated from each other in metal boxes on wheels, and that sucks.
Cars separate people
And imagine, if bike commuting was commonplace, we could all be having those kinds of interactions all the time.
Ugh. Now you’ve got me rethinking bike commuting.
Even on my car-surrounded commutes to work, I usually manage to have some direct interaction with someone walking or even stopped at a light. It makes up for the occasional jerk who thinks I should be in a non-existent bike lane.
My family all ride bikes to school and activities in town. I always point out to my kids that when we’re on bikes, we stop and talk with friends and neighbors all the time. But if one party is in a car, all you get is a wave through a closed window.
For commuting to work, you’d get quips and jokes at red lights for the crazy stuff you’d see while riding. It was a nice camaraderie that you don’t see even on the train and is impossible in a car.
