O To My Bicycle in My New Life
Revised: 09/04/2023 5:41 p.m.
- Sept. 3, 2023, 11 p.m.
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- Public
In 2015 my car broke down. I had to walk/bike to my jobs to pay off a lot of debt (closer to $20,000 on a bike.) I was in shape already but when it first happened I lived off in the country. It was about a 35 minute drive to the closest town where I threw pizzas. The bike route took about 2 and 1/2 hours. At the top of the first long uphill incline, I pulled off the side of the road to puke and eventually dry heave. I was only a quarter of the way there. I made it into work eventually. I believe my boss, D_, drove me home after that shift ended. That was the first ride of the next 7 years of my life. I moved to a small city where I could bike everywhere I needed to. I had my father drop me off at a sub-leased apartment with nothing but a suitcase and an independently held hammock for a bed. I couldn’t afford internet nor did I have a smart phone, so I actually had to explore the whole city myself the old fashioned way by asking directions, trial and error and maximum effort. I would bike to at least 2 jobs and sometimes 3. The first two years took a lot of adjusting. I had to learn how to plan every day and every trip. I couldn’t fill an entire shopping basket full of groceries and house hold items. I had to prioritize what I needed for the next few days. Eventually, I fine tuned the entire process and it all became natural. I didn’t have to ride through the rain much, nor did it snow too often. Even if it did rain, I would just bite-the-bullet instead of paying Uber for a ride to work and back. I actually love riding my bike in the rain and being a chef is a dirty job anyway. You end up with soaking shoes a lot with all the cleaning by the end of the night.
By the time I could buy a car, I really didn’t even want one. It was an extra expense that wasn’t necessary, plus I was saving so much cash, always early to work and blood pumping ready to go by the time I had arrived. Traffic jams were non-existent to me. There are parking issues and traffic problem where I live during Game Season and that never was a factor in my life getting to work. That doesn’t even cover the fact that I am an Environmentalist. I was an Environmental Studies minor in college. So, I was saving money and leaving less of a Carbon Foot Print on the earth (and not to mention a vegetarian and sometimes vegan.)
The only downsides are unsupportive family members and the giant, loud, trucks and Hummer types (aka the fossil fuel company goons, lackeys and fan club which a lot of my family are.) That was a difficult cultural barrier to overcome. Where I lived in Lexington, Ky, what I was doing was more prevalent there. A lot folks are Environmentalists and bikers there. I remember stories of one biker who had tattoos on his calves that said “Fuck” on his left calf and “Cars!” on his right calf. But, when I moved to this conservative city in The Deep South, folks who saw me biking, or at jobs I applied at looked at me like I was a simpleton, or homeless person, even though I had just moved here from a house almost the size of a mansion and grew up as the son of a wealthy land owning (criminal) family. (But, that is another story for another time.) And went to an expensive Liberal Arts college. Overcoming those stigmas were some of the hardest parts of the journey. Its like doing something you are proud of and being shamed for it. We have two different sets of a success hierarchy. The mass American Culture is based in Hedonism and Egoism. It’s like being proud that you have the ability to be obese, or two drive a hummer 2 blocks down the street. Like Disney’s Wall-E’s dystopian future where people can’t walk down a flight of steps or go for a hike with their own children and that is success.
I was holding down an Oyster House chef job, and was a chef at a hotel and teaching yoga at the YMCA one summer (and practicing it all thee time). All that doesn’t matter to an unsupportive family or audience. My father probably doesn’t even know I was an Environmental Studies minor in school and he is a Climate Denier, Fox News-goon preacher. I am in the best shape of my entire family of 7, and my wellness screening recently was exceptionally impressive. My Nurse was openly excited about my results.I would call that successful. But my family tries to make it out that my lifestyle is some sort of a “bum lifestyle.” That I can’t drive to help them at their homes when they need some maintenance or repair work. All selfish reasons really. It was another perk not having a car because it was a good excuse to not have to visit them. I honestly only want to keep arms length relationships anyway because of how unhealthy of lifestyles they not only live but advocate and lobby for.
I eventually had some emergency circumstances that I decided I needed a car for. I was being bullied at my hotel job by a set of rough types that thought they were taking over. By this time I was really ready to get back in school and have the means to avoid those types of folks now. I bought one with cash I had saved and I was hoping to move somewhere more progressive and upper class.. But, the ironic part of doing all this in The American South where diabetes and obesity are prevalent force of nature, I’ve made a name for myself in this community. A lot of folks saw me riding my bike through the elements and respect my work ethic. The general feeling when they see me out there really gettin’ it on a bike is, “There’s a hard one.”
Getting a car was really nice at first. I could visit some old friends and get some things out of my system like going to my favorite cliff to jump off of into the river bend or being able to get out of town to hear the Spring Peeper frogs. But, I eventually grew to hate my car. I put on weight, and just didn’t feel as good daily. I was so used to daily cardio and never really having to watch out for carbs anything other than just the normal (for me) ingredients to stay away from like MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and Partially Hydrogenated Oils. I’ve put so much money into my car now, I really can appreciate how much I was saving before. I do my own work on my car and I actually enjoy mechanic work. It’s like a big puzzle and exceptionally rewarding. But, alas, my car has broken down again and I had to call my neighborhood Bike Lady for a bike she repaired. (She repairs bikes to sell for charity.) I’ve bought at least 3-4 from her when they get stolen. And I feel amazing biking to work again. Just sitting down at work after that slight uphill slope to work and setting down felt amazing…like an opiate. Food digests better, tastes better and anxiety over carbs and calories vanish. I would like to convert my car into a hydrogen running vehicle. One of my teachers at Vocational school in Ky converted his lawn mower and small truck to running off hydrogen. You can buy the blue prints online.
Last updated September 04, 2023
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