Because It's Fun!
When midday finally arrives, children at the elementary school devour their lunches, grab their coats, and race outside to play on the swings. They don't care if it's raining; they just want to get outside and hurtle through space in the open air for a while.
For us adults, riding a bike is one way to experience what those little children in the schoolyard enjoy so effortlessly. We cyclists know this, and it's the reason we smile at one another when passing each other on the bike routes.
Riding is my passion, and a lot of the riding I do is done for fun. Yes, fun, and nothing but. My neighbours, I'm sure, think I'm crazy when they meet me in the lobby on a black and foul February evening, returning home from my "after dinner" ride, dripping wet and shivering, but with a grin on my face. "I do it because I like it," I tell them. "No, really."
Some people somewhat guiltily think that they "should" ride a bike because: 1) it's green, and they will therefore reduce their carbon footprint; 2) it's good for them, and they will thus increase their overall health and fitness; and 3) by doing so, they will enjoy the substantial financial savings associated with not owning a car.
Those are all true, of course, but to me they're side effects. The best reason to ride a bike around town is because it's fun. Whenever anyone tells me that they envy or admire me for riding in the city, I reply that I can't quite believe that something that can get me from Point A to Point B quickly and efficiently - and is "Good For Me," as well - can also be so much fun.
There is nothing like riding a bike. It's not all sweat, strain and endurance, as some riders would have you believe. It's more the happy awareness of a small lightweight machine carrying you easily through the streets, the movement of your body, the air on your face, and the world in all its shapes, colours - and flavours.
I love the smell of imminent spring evening rain, filtered through a million cherry blossoms. The delight of hardcore summer hammering drives me to ride faster. I love the swirls of orange leaves cascading through the streets in October. And when I'm navigating icy streets on my studded tires in January, the snowflakes bouncing off my nose bring me happiness.
Bikes are nimble, quick, and can go where cars cannot. I love riding around traffic jams, taking shortcuts where cars are not allowed, and using the intimate knowledge of city streets and pathways that decades of city riding have given me.
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