The first ride

Just add rubber
London, ON
April 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

After weeks of kicking myself for doing nothing, I finally dusted off the pink wonderbike yesterday and took it for its - and by extension, my - first ride of the season.

I'll be brutally honest: I was afraid to get back on the road. With each passing year, motorists get more distracted, more adversarial, more aggressive, less tolerant of anyone else sharing "their" road. I worry I'll end up on the wrong end of someone's grille, simply because I chose two wheels in a world designed for four.

For the record, I also drive a car. And I wish more motorists would get some pedal-time in, as well. Empathy and understanding are good things.

Our city, in its infinite car-centric, rapid-transit-killing wisdom, thinks painted lines will protect commuting cyclists. With all due respect, our city is dead wrong. We need separated, protected lanes across the city, not a disconnected patchwork of paint that often dissolves into nothingness with virtually no warning, leaving cyclists at the mercy of impatient, high-speed traffic. You really do need ice in your veins to ride in this town.

But the alternative - not riding - is worse. I decided yesterday I'd rather live with a bit of fear than miss cycling entirely. It's simply too much fun, too good for us, and for those around us, to not get out there just because we're scared. Because nothing changes if the bike stays home.

For what it's worth, the ride was glorious, and it only whetted my appetite for more. So look out for the guy on the pink StumpJumper. It's my road, too, and I have no intention of giving up my right to enjoy it safely and collaboratively.

What a world it would be if cities would finally stop treating cycling as some kind of fringe activity that threatens the status quo. Indeed, it is precisely that status quo that'll render our cities unlivable if we sit back and do nothing.

Ride safely, my friends.

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