#eutopia — Public Fediverse posts

I #bike because I'm lazy. But that's a bad, terrible thing, so I couldn't admit that to myself for the first 20+ years of my riding career. I'd get asked all the time why I ride, and I'd use the usual lines about #climate, expense, #traffic... But the heart and soul of the matter is I get bored easily, and #fuckcars, and if most of my life can be shrunk down to #bikeable radius, well... I'm gonna do that.

This is culturally, not a virtue, and in this "virtuous" capitalist world we buy things that try to appeal to our vision of our best possible selves. Bicycles are fitness tools, recreational instruments, athletic, sporty, competetive. Are you fast? Great. Are you a human ATV? Terrific. Do you just... want to not have to spend a lot of time, money, and effort on getting through your day? Do you not want to have to work all the goddamn time just to afford to maintain and fuel a massive metal box that you are, for some reason, obsessed with keeping in good cosmetic condition all the time? No? And also you just want to not spend all that time walking three blocks to the hardware store because you need a lightbulb? "We're not sure we want our brand associated with that."

I bought in hard to the idea that a bike should signal something vital, so I rode a gravel bike for a while. Did I ever ride gravel? No. Did I enjoy being in the drops? No. Did I bike faster than I needed to and feel more competitive than was strictly rational for commuting and running errands? Yes. Did I like it? Maybe sometimes, but I'll be honest, there were a lot of moments where the thought of getting into the tuck and riding at a speed that made sense in that position exhausted me so much that I would just not take the bike out. I'd cancel plans. I'd postpone errands. It was a bummer. But then Covid hit, and I got fat, and I could barely breath while in the drops, so I sold the bike. I then immediately turned around and bought a cheap 90s era mountain bike and started building it up to be as soft and easy to ride as possible. My only criteria for parts and accessories were, will this make biking easier and more comfortable? But the biggest game changer was the basket. The thing that used to slow me down the most was just cargo logistics. How was I gonna carry things? Did I want to deal with a backpack? Individually packing and balancing panniers? If I went somewhere and I suddenly acquired cargo, what would I do? Now I just drop things in the basket. I don't have to think about it. It's dorky, and I'm slow, but goddamn it, I get to be so much lazier now.

Almost all of us here right now are trying to build a better world, but sometimes the best thing you can do for that future #eutopia (thanks @notspookypip for the etymology lesson) is make the decisions that make your world today and now kinder and more manageable for yourself and your community. You and I are likely never going to be our "best" selves physically, mentally, emotionally... we have to work with who we are now, not who we hope we might be. Use that wagon, ride that tricycle, whatever makes you feel comfortable, because a comfortable world for humans is usually a #walkable, bikeable, and #sustainable world.