Cycling Your Community
What are things like cycling in your community? What I mean is the area you generally find yourself riding in. Do you feel a part of it, or is it just you and the road in front of you….without anything else really mattering?
I know that when I used to ride regularly in North America, I felt at home in the areas I would ride and I thought I felt a sense of community. But now I feel it was more of a sense of familiarity more than a sense of community.
You see, here in Grenada things are so much different. It’s a small country and a tight community. You really can’t go anywhere without knowing someone. But what I love about it, is the strong feeling of being connected with my community. People look out for one another here. People give you a smile and wave as if they haven’t seen you in months….even though you just saw then yesterday. Yeah, it’s really awesome.
I love this feeling of community in all situations, but I really notice it most on my rides. I guess it’s because I’ve never had it while riding before. To be far up the coast away from what’s most familiar, and then to have someone you know drive past and wave feels nice. It’s like always having that connection, no matter where you are.
I’ll ask you again….what are things like in your community? Do you feel a sense of connection with your community, or is it just a sense of the familiar?
I live in Austin, as you know, and generally feel very much a part of the community. I mostly ride down through the City to the lake where all the walkers/runners/rowers/paddleboarders/etc go about their business and bikes fit right in to that scene. Even riding north out of Austin on Parmer was fine. The only time I feel alone and isolated is riding on Loop 360. Not much scenery, traffic is heavy and fast, and it’s lonesome so I generally avoid that road even though it is quite popular for cycling.
Thanks Paul. Yeah, I definitely felt a sense of cycling community in Austin with all the cyclists out there and the great cycling events. It’s a different feel than what I have here in Grenada, but still great. I definitely want to do more riding in Austin and surrounding area in the future.
Darryl
I live in Los Angeles, right in the middle of Hollywood, and as a full time cyclist I have never felt community here, unfortunately. Even when I see other cyclists, we tend to ignore each other. Riding here is more of a S&M relationship, where the power shifts back and forth–not unpleasant, but a little painful at times! I long for what you describe, always have, so the best I can do while living here is to create my own community–riding with friends or groups when possible. We have CycLAvia coming up on Sunday, when there will be thousands of cyclists on the roads, and yet even there everyone pretty much does their own thing. Sigh. Life in a huge city!
I hear you, Tony. There are advantages and disadvantages of everywhere and unfortunately in a big city there isn’t generally that sense of community. I hope you find it, my man.