How to Love Biking



My Beloved Bike and I went to NYC

Before I bid my 2009-2010 sojourn in the States adieu, I must pay homage to the most influential element of my life. I've spent time in reflection the past few months on memorable experiences here in the States. I met awesome people. I had three great internships. I went to concerts and American cities. I played in snow and golden fall leaves. I loved my Stateside family. I discovered truly good food. I found a religious community with values similar to my own. I even met someone who tolerates my protrusive bubbly global nomad. But what I'll remember most is unquestionably the magic of biking.

2009 and 2010 were dedicated to biking. Anyone who knows this global nomad knows that. Ironically, biking is a departure from my overseas life which was centered in nations where biking although sometimes common was always unsafe and unrealistic. Yet I decided that after my first semester at uni in 2009 that I should obtain a bike in order to reduce commute times around campus. So my aunt gave me a bike her sister-in-law obtained in a raffle in the early 1980s. Somewhere between biking through the rain between my aunt's home in Linville back to uni five miles away (my first bike ride in four years) I knew there was something special about biking. It was love at first ride. 



The original bike that started everything



Transport: People don't use the bike the way the bike is meant to be used. It's a form of transport. It moves you from one destination to another. You can strap a basket on the front or back...or a messenger or a backpack. My bike advocacy friends in Harrisonburg and Washington DC and others like them all across America are promoting biking as an alternative form of clean renewable energy and transport. I embraced it and the freedom that comes with it. Everyone should embrace it. And I lived in a very hilly city as well.



Exercise: I did not have time to exercise much at uni as I was an overachieving student. But I did have to get to the grocery store, and I had to drink coffee every Saturday morning, and I had to get to the bank...so I biked there. On weekends, long rides were in order with one earbud listening to David Crowder Band. Biking is exercise commitment. You can run out and walk back, but you can't bike 20 miles and then walk home. Or you could but it's a real pain.

Happiness: Biking makes me happy. I physically feel good. I feel good about myself. I feel liberated from Pakistani headcoverings, American consumerism and bad Kenyan driving. There's something comforting about two wheels under you, watching the pedals move in smooth constant circles, feeling like you're moving fast but still feeling like the world is at your finger tips. 

Bike advocacy in Harrisonburg VA: Feb 2010





I hope my biking stage hasn't ended. If anything, the beloved Fuji Newest 3.0 I purchased downtown Washington DC this past summer is currently hanging in my parent's garage in Bath New York, awaiting my return. It's not over. I predict that it's only begun. I can't drive a car yet with very little effort, my life is full of transport and travel; bikes, planes, trains, metros, buses and faithful feet. Sometimes things surprise you. Things you don't expect become the most memorable aspects of your life. So the next time you see someone on a bike, think alternatively. Think of me.