Postcards from the Bleeding Edge
Saturday, March 08, 2003

 

Singing the bicycle electric



In my endless commute over the hill, in that endless gotta-get-in-the-car and go from point A to point B and back again, I forgot something.

You don't get to see any of the points in-between. In fact, the world at 65 miles an hour is blur. There is so much more detail to be seen at 30 miles an hour, or 17 or at 5.

And to talk about all this stuff as merely sights to be seen is wrong, too - On my electric bike, on the 4 mile bike trip from my house to Felton, it's like a full sensory fractal unfolding, I slow down and listen to the outside world, I smell it, I feel the cold wind over my skin, I hear , instead of driving through television. I've discoverd 6 waterfalls on that trip, all endlessly changing - I've seen deer, raccoons, skunks, and animals I can't identify. Just moving a few inches down the road changes the sounds that I hear, the river changes, the details and perspectives change... it's more than could ever be absorbed through a windshield. The struggle to get back up the hill and the incredible rush I feel when I get going back down it again, oh, man, how could I, how could everyone, have forgotten that when they passed through 16 and got that drivers license?

It's really profound and a joining experience to be part of nature, not just driving through television.

A good buddy of mine, Chip Mefford, just put up a rant, his epiphany, and a howto with pictures, about his alternate electric vehicle "motobob". It looks great, both I and he can't wait for the snow to melt to see how it works. Somehow, separated by 3000 miles, and 6 years since we last saw each other, we arrived at the same conclusion - if you try - you can stop driving so much - and fill that emptiness with something amazing and profound, and good for you. The e-bike that I have has made it possible to do 20 miles in an hour - fast enough to ditch the car for all but the longest trips I have to make. I love mine, and I think chipper's gonna love his.

My bike and I are going to do a little communing with the forest and the river later today. Hope you do the same.

Happy saturday to all.

Love,

Michael


 
David Täht writes about politics, space, copyright, the internet, audio software, operating systems and surfing.


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Uncle Bill's Helicopter - A speech I gave to ITT Tech - Chicken soup for engineers
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Sex In Politics - If politicians spent more time pounding the flesh rather than pressing it, it would be a better world
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On the Columbia - Why I care about space
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