It has been a warm winter. I could be some self righteous environmentalist and talk about global warming and the ice caps coming to drown us all, but I’m not interested in that. I’ll leave that to the experts. Instead I bring up this warm winter because many more folks have been riding all the way through. I think we’ve only had two or three days where there was significant snow or ice on the ground to make the roads dangerous. How am I supposed to brag to my southern bike friends about biking through blizzards when they talk about 50 degrees being cold?
The other day a friend of mine sent me a message on the internets about not riding her bike to work despite the warm weather. She sent the same message to another friend of hers that is really into bikes as well. The funny thing is, the three of us all found ourselves using automobiles on such a nice day (though I did get to use my bike a little bit later in the day). But this is something I’ve seen before. I’m many people’s “bike friend”. When they have a question about bikes, they will ask me. If I don’t know the answer I’m at least a good place to get a starting point. I don’t mind this role. I like bikes and I like helping my friends. But I also get other messages from friends that points towards a disturbing trend.
I get friends apologizing to me for not riding. I also get volunteers apologizing for not volunteering at the Hub. I may be into bikes and I bet when I was younger I lectured people about riding, but I hope that I don’t come off as someone who judges everyone based on how much they ride. In our society we often apologize for too much. If someone expresses feelings of sadness it is normal to say “I’m sorry” when you are not the one causing such feelings. “I’m sorry” is said so much as a figure of speech we may not even mean it anymore. We should be less sorry for existing and be proud of who we are. But repeating that mantra instills guilt into us.
Maybe I’m feeling guilty right now, but I don’t think it is just me that causes people to feel bad about not riding. I think there is judgment and guilty feelings used to promote cycling in the wider culture. This isn’t productive in my opinion. I’ve mentioned before about fat shaming used to promote cycling. As if people that drive or are “fat” should be so ashamed of themselves that they suddenly decide to ride a bike. I have a friend that only rides because of the guilt that comes from his environmental beliefs. He rode his bike to work a few times but hated it. I don’t even know if he has his bike anymore, but I bet that if he does it isn’t being ridden.
Again, getting exercise and helping the environment are great things. In moderation, patting yourself on that back can be okay. But when you don’t practice moderation you get out of control. If you pat yourself on the back so much that you indulge in fat shaming or environmental shaming than something is wrong. Is that what we are doing to people? Do folks volunteer here at the Hub because they like bikes or because of some societal pressure to make up for their environmental sins? How is bicycling being “branded” and sold to folks? I would hope bikes are seeing as something that is fun to do. Fitness and environmental benefits are secondary. Well, at least in my opinion they should be.
I ride for my mental health. I ride for the way it makes me feel good about myself. I don’t want to shove guilt onto people. I don’t want people to feel they need to apologize to me for not riding. I don’t want my mental health and self worth to overshadow others. That isn’t worth it.