I got a new bike the other day. Wooo! And just now I remembered I had a half-written post about bikes from a few weeks ago. Here ‘tis, with some alterations.
A thought to leave you with, which has been stuck in my head rather a lot lately!
Biking is amazing. My bike got stolen recently, which has given me a heightened appreciation for how awesome biking is. So I thought I’d write about it.
Biking is transport. Biking is exercise. Biking is faster than walking and way less hassle than driving. And also faster than bussing, a lot of the time; depending where you’re going.
Biking is freedom. When I got a paper run at age 11 I could do it much faster on a bike than walking. The measly $3 an hour I got for it allowed me to buy stuff. While I truly believe that money is immaterial to happiness, when you’re 11 and you can save up for an ipod to replace your antiquated discman, money is a form of happiness.
When I was 13 I started biking to school, Nayland College, which was half an hour away. Again, this was freedom. Freedom to not catch the bus, which I hated. It was hot and crowded, and arrived at school way too early. Freedom to go to my friend’s house after school, and bike home at my leisure rather than be constrained by bus timetables or have to ask for a ride. Biking was my first taste of independence.
Of course when I got my licence at 17 and realised I could drive to school, leaving home at about 8.45, coffee in hand, biking quickly took a back seat, so to speak, especially in winter. I was a rather lazy teenager at that point, especially in year 13.
But now there is no way I would want a car. As well as all the perfectly reasoned environmental reasons, they’re just bloody expensive and a huge hassle. Plus while driving on the open road is fun, driving in cities is stressful and slow. Blergh.
When I got my bike again at the end of last year, it once again represented freedom. I could go to all these places without the slowness of walking, or the hassle of bussing. Best of all, it was efficient. Being at 2 campuses would be a huge pain if I had to walk between them, and to be honest I doesn’t know how everyone else copes. But on my bike I can get from Kelburn to Pipitea in 5 minutes flat, and back up again in not much more than 10.
Plus, biking home at night is amazing, cos not only is it faster and warmer, it also feels a lot safer, because it would be really hard for someone on foot to attack me.
When my bike got stolen, the emotional trauma was threefold. Firstly, I really like to feel safe, and to have my sense of trust in humanity broken made me quite scared and paranoid. And really profoundly sad that there are people out there who would resort to such things.
Secondly, my main form of transport was gone, and walking everywhere is a bloody pain. The next day I had to walk to Parliament and then up to Kelburn, so I spent a total of about 2 hours walking around. Seemed like such a huge waste of time!
Thirdly, I have had my bike since I was 12, so my emotional attachment to it is huge. Apart from my laptop (which I’m now way more scared about getting stolen than I was before), and my pounamu, it was probably my most prized possession, and it was almost a part of me. Having that suddenly gone really really sucked.
Some amazing friends of mine leant me an old bike of theirs, which is great. Their generosity was really overwhelming actually, as was the sympathy expressed by everyone I told. I’ve been using it for about a month, while looking for a new one. And it was great, in terms of getting me around, and I’m so incredibly grateful to the beautiful friends who lent it to me.
The first thing I did, before even looking for a new bike, was to get a decent lock. I spent $80 on a really awesome one – it’s 6 metal links that would be very, very, difficult to break. A big investment, but at least no-one will even bother trying to break it (I hope!), given how many nice bikes have such crappy locks. Not that I’m saying that anyone should steal other people’s bikes, cos that’s still a really shitty thing to do.
Last week I finally found a nice bike on trademe. It took ages – I’d been looking at another one, but the people never got back to me about going to see it. And all the others were in like Porirua or Lower Hutt, which are a pain to get to. So I was stoked to see one in Thorndon! I went to see it on Tuesday, and bought it later that night.
It’s really awesome cos it’s newish and has barely been ridden. Very comfortable, and of course everything works like a dream – especially the breaks and the gears which is a nice change.
The best thing about it was that the lovely guy I bought it off gave me a high-vis vest, so my parents can no longer nag me about that. It also came with a very good quality front light, so I feel a lot safer at night. And mudguards, so no more wet muddy face! (one day last week I got to uni with mud all over my face and didn’t notice for like 2 hours, after I’d already run into several people – rather embarrassing!!!)
This is what I wrote a few weeks ago:
“Sometimes I believe that everything happens for a reason, and sometimes I don’t. I’m still figuring out what I think about this. On the one hand it has made me appreciate what I do have, and forced me to be more careful about security. On the other, it’s just a pain. An expensive pain too. While some would be happy at the opportunity to get a new bike, for me its just a hassle and something I’d rather not have to do. But that’s just life I guess.”
But now I’m feeling so much more optimistic. I have accepted that my old bike was starting to show its age, and have relished the opportunity to buy a new one, which I will care for and maintain properly. I’m really excited to start going on long bike rides with my flatmates. I had a wonderful time biking in the sunshine yesterday. It was great. Such a sense of freedom and adventure!
A thought to leave you with, which has been stuck in my head rather a lot lately!
