My Personal Action

When I initially conceived of this club I brainstormed all kinds of ideas to get people engaged and spread the word. One was to send emails to a bunch of folks asking them to submit a few words on how riding a bike has been a corrective action for them. I was going to in-turn, use these as Instagram posts and blog posts here so I’d have some content in the vault to dole out over time as the club grew.

Or I thought I could collect them all and post them here on the site on a sort of ‘Wall of Action’, and have a form for people to submit their own. I knew some people might only want to submit anonymously – and that was ok too.

What I really wanted was, a. for people to think about how riding bikes affected them – more than the usual “oh, it makes me feel good,” or “I do it for the exercise,” type responses. To really sit with the notion and dig deeper; and b. to compile this varied and honest cross section of how bikes impacted peoples’ lives and hopefully connect people with shared experiences as well as exposing folks to some new ones.

I decided against it because…well…I thought the email’d just be bugging people. And as far as a section on the blog compiling entries – why make more work for myself when people could just use hashtags and just make it their own – incorporating it into what they do already. Isn’t that what hashtags are for anyway?

As part of my initial email pitch, I did sit down and write my own ‘Personal Action’ – how riding bikes has been a corrective action for me:

Like so many other people I’ve riding bikes since I was a kid. For fun, transportation, fitness – the whole deal. Around 5 years ago I quit drinking and abusing drugs and in the resulting clarity I’ve come to realize the bike was giving me so much more than I’d initially thought. Among many benefits, three things stood out.

First it’s a manifestation of my need and desire to move forward in the world under my own power, yet still abide in the support and companionship of family, friends and community.

Second, it’s a reminder for me in this ever faster, changing world to slow down and live at ‘human speed;” to work on forward progress in a way that still allows for human connection and the development of good relationships while continuing to learn, grow and create. It’s an admonition to always try and be ‘the best version of myself’. 

Third, it’s a way to move through the world in a manner that is beneficial and respectful to both myself and others – in addition to the natural world around me. It represents my effort to be ‘in’ and ‘of’ the world while trying to leave behind a positive impact and initiate change that I think is important. It reminds me that when I’m struggling for significance in the effort to make change, even the smallest and simplest actions matter. Even when I feel ineffective or lost with regards as what to do, a bike ride is always doing something. Intention breeds action. Ride action is Right Action.

That’s how it works for me. And the thing is, it continues to evolve over time. It’s organic and growing.

If you feel strongly about the positive impact that riding bikes has had on your life, maybe think about sharing your thoughts with the hashtags #correctiveactionbicycleclub or #rideactionisrightaction on social media, or making your own blog post about it. The overarching goal is to connect with others who feel the same as well as maybe introduce some folks who don’t ride bikes all that much to everything that they offer simply through being an example.

If you’d like to feature your ‘Personal Action’ here – I’d love to post it, feel free to drop me a line and we can work out the details.

Be Less Urgent

I couldn’t ride to to work today because, family stuff. I was struck by just how much of a hurry everyone else driving seemed to be in to get to their destination, especially given it was probably a job they complained incessantly about. I felt no such urgency.

Instead I mentally swiped left through these scenes from my commute home yesterday, a day when everything, everywhere just seemed right. The air, the temperature, the radiantly clear sky. The subtle breeze and intensely bright, warm sunlight. I’m sure my nature homies John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Edward Abbey or mix master H.D. Thoreau all have quotes that could aptly accompany these images, but I’m not well-read enough and my memory reservoir not deep enough to call any up.

Instead, I’ll borrow the words of my internet brother-from-another-mother, Slim Wonder and simply say I took the long way yesterday and here’s what I happened upon “getting around to getting home.” Don’t be in too much of a hurry, kids.

Porcelain Rocket Microwave Panniers

Two nights ago the weather forecast was calling for rain in the form of ‘buckets’. I think ‘buckets’ is a specific meteorological term, but I’m not meteorologist. Not one to ignore a seemingly obvious sign from the gods – or anyone with a ‘gist’ at the end of their title, I thought this was a perfect time to mount up my @porcelainrocket Microwave Panniers [1].

They are built around a removable dry bag system so seemed perfectly suited. Like all of PR’s gear I’ve had/used/abused before, these came through with flying colors. My stuff stayed completely dry. I’m not sure what sort of witchcraft the dry bag material employs – I was a bit concerned at first when I could actually SEE the colors of my stuff inside through the bag, but they stayed watertight. love the fact that I can just pop the dry bags out and take them in the house (from the garage, where the bikes live) to load/unload them and leave them by the door to grab before heading out in the morning. Also nice is being able to haul a bag of work clothes to the office washroom easily to change. A small, easily overlooked – yet huge detail – is the fact that the dry bags are flat-bottomed and stand up on their own, a feature I highly appreciate. [2]

The ‘holsters’ that receive the dry bags were easy to mount up, come with a bunch of extra holes and enough strappage that I can only think they’ll fit whatever kind of rig you’ve got. In closing these are solid goods that you could do no wrong in acquiring for yourself. Don’t be fooled by Scott’s rugged good looks and outdoorsy-type beard – even though he makes all this stuff for that wild and crazy packbiking and other wilderness shenanigans, I’m here to say his stuff works great for us mere-mortal commuter types as well. I love getting my stuff from small shops like PR because I know that if I ever have an issue, question or need a repair, I can easily talk to an actual human – even if they’re a weird one, because really, we’re all a little weird in our own weird way – amirite? [3-10] Random pictures from a soggy commute. Camera doesn’t do the foliage justice – seems like on the grey days the colors pop even more.