Tour De Campus

Freedom. That's what it is. Pure, unadulterated freedom. Those two, thin strips of hardened rubber under the aluminum frame can take me wherever I want to go and with over 23 gears to choose from no terrain is too difficult to master. I can wake up ten minutes later now and be to my destination in under 10 minutes whereas if I walk it would take double that. I don't have to wait for the large-cumbersome buses to take me to where I need to go, I am my own master. There is a kind of Zen-like quality about it. Your body gets to that strange state, alternating between hot and cold as your legs burn and a haze of sweat develops under your clothes only to be cooled down by the breeze you create with that very sweat. you push yourself to the brink of exhaustion before allowing yourself a moment to coast and rest, one leg extended closer to the ground before pushing off and building momentum again.

The wheels almost become a metaphor. Creation and destruction, pain and pleasure, action and reaction all acting seamlessly as you glide down the road. Honestly, it's better than meditation simply because it forces you to be mindful. If you lose sight of the road for just one split second, if you become distracted and aren't in the moment, then the results could be disastrous. But once you reach your destination, you realize that your bike is not merely a vehicle to be used means to an end but rather it provides a sense of adventurous fun to a daily chore that would otherwise be mundane. I thoroughly enjoy riding my bike and when I ride around campus, I feel like I'm Lance Armstrong, peddling my way to a yellow jersey. Better yet I feel like I'm one of those hip, nihilistic messengers from San Fran or New York when in reality I probably look and act more like this. Never the less I believe that biking is the best way to get around campus and I'm sure others would agree as well. It is faster that walking, more versatile than a car and you can control how and when you get to your destination rather than having to wait for a bus, plus the fact that bikes are zero emissions gives me the peace of mind that in keeping Larryville that much crunchier.