Biking to work — for the fun of it
Biking around Santa Fe is a blast, even when you are riding to work. On the other hand, driving can be a slog: The news blares on the radio, traffic starts and stops — and heaven forbid you get behind a tourist going 10 miles below the speed limit while rubber-necking the stucco. On a bike, you glide through space in a way that connects you to the terrain but still allows you to move through it quickly. Your body becomes your steering wheel and you lean, push and float in a way that is both dreamlike and energizing.
When I bike, I see Santa Fe in a way I can’t quite appreciate in a car. I can cruise around the Plaza, stop anywhere without looking for parking, hear the river bubbling on my way home as I ride west with the warm New Mexico sun on my face.
Of course, biking has environmental benefits, too. Electricity and transportation each cause about a third of U.S. climate pollution. Renewable energy prices are at record lows, and coal is quickly dropping from our electric supply chain — meaning electricity is getting cleaner. Donald Trump has about as much chance of rescuing coal as I do looking good in spandex. But cars are harder to clean up. While electric cars are coming and getting better fast, most of us don’t have one yet. Many of us (including me) drive cars sized to fit our whole family. I know all this intimately: I work for the Natural Resources Defense Council, so I spend many days caught in the policy and political battles around climate and energy. So yes, one reason I bike is that it feels like theory meeting practice. It is also a mental break on the way to work and an outlet for the stress built up at the end of the day. It’s a physical connection to my city, the outdoors and the planet. It’s grounding, like a gardening equivalent for commuters.
When I talk to people about bike commuting, I often get the feeling they are girding up to protect themselves from a conversion attempt. Many folks see bike commuters as extremists, risking life and
limb on roads built for cars and frequented by everything from tractor-trailers to Texans in monster trucks (lowriders tend to keep a mellow pace, at least downtown). Most of us learned to ride as kids, and I think many of us hold on to the ideas we had about biking on the road from then, too. Things have gotten a lot better.
Santa Fe is a great place to ride. Despite our high altitude and proximity to the mountains, most of the city is pretty flat, and there are constantly increasing amounts of trails and bike lanes to get around on. Growing up in Santa Fe, there were almost no bikes on the roads. Now I rarely bike around town without seeing plenty of others doing the same, and drivers are increasingly welcoming us, letting us through. An increasing number of commutes around the city are safely rideable, with more and more trails and bike lanes. (Cerrillos Road is still a deathtrap, but that’s true in a car, too.) Plus, the weather is good for riding just about all the time.
It just so happens this week (May 15-19) is bike-to-work week, so it’s a fun time to get out the pump, grease that old chain and give it a spin. There are events all week and a bike fiesta on Friday coinciding with Bike and Brew. For more information, visit www. biketoworksantafe.com. I hope to see you out there.