Invisible Riders

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The real question, the one that must be asked first, says Kastle Lund, executive director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is 'Why do so many of us fail to see these groups as constituencies that even exist, let alone that we need and are duty-bound to serve?'

Francisco is not invisible. These riders, on these streets, in the peril of traffic and smog, have not somehow made themselves hard to see. If I hadn't seen them in 15 years of daily riding in Los Angeles-and if you haven't seen them in your cities-it's not because they are transparent.

Aaron Salinger, the bike-riding translator, and I were talking as we sat in MacArthur Park. One of my original goals was to see if these riders could somehow transform into racers, tourists, enthusiasts.

Salinger nearly laughed. Kids, he said, have a better understanding of bikes than I do. He told me about what happened when he assigned his junior high class to draw pictures of people doing things on bikes-'whatever you imagine,' he'd said.

One student drew his father on a superbike, vaulting the border from Mexico. Another drew a comic: Bike riders rob a bank, pedal to evade police, and use the money to open a business.

Evidence of moral weakness? No. Evidence of how powerful the desire to live in the United States, and participate in our prosperity, can be. And of the central role the bicycle plays in that dream.

Ask your friends why they ride. To summit mountains, to swoop along singletrack, to lose weight, to get fit. To see things. To feel free. Francisco Orellano doesn't ride to be seen. He rides to become free.

Dan Koeppel's latest book is To See Every Bird on Earth (Hudson Street, 2005). Excerpted from Bicycling magazine (Dec. 2005). Subscriptions: $19.94/year (11 issues) from Box 7308, Red Oak, IA 51591; www.bicycling.com.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print