The Winning Essay:
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Biking or Bust “When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments. […] And […] unlike subsequent inventions for man’s convenience, the more he used it the fitter his body became. Here, for once, was a product of man’s brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others. Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle” - Elizabeth West Have I ever thought about biking to work? Yes. Hi, I am a 51 year old single mom. A year ago a friend gave me an old bike. I was interested in biking for fitness and stress relief, but I hadn’t ridden a bike for almost 20 years! To my surprise it came naturally to me, much like eating. Eating had always come natural to me, and as a result, I was very out of shape. For the past year I’ve woken up at 5:30 am, four days a week, to ride on the bike trail for one hour. I then get ready for work. I even kept this routine through the cold months of winter! |
In April, I fell on my bike, and was actually taken by ambulance off the greenbelt to the emergency room. My face looked like Rocky’s face after losing a fight. That incident set me back a few weeks, but I recovered and then kept riding. So far I’ve lost 4.5 inches in the chest, 4.5 inches in the waist, 2.5 in the hips and 2 in in the thighs. I feel great!
Several times I thought how I would like to get my exercise by riding to work and back but I didn’t feel confident. I feel I am able at this time to step out into the “real” world off the greenbelt. Not only would I save gas money riding to and from work, but I wouldn’t have to get up at 5:30 am to exercise, because biking from place to place would be my exercise! So I would be saving time, gas money, and wear and tear on the car.
If I had baskets on my bike I could bike to Walmart, K-Mart, Krogers, Lowes, Office Depot , Walgreens, Big Lots, the mall and anywhere, to get anything! I could bike to church, friends’ houses, the post office, the bank, and even the bike wash! Now, biking around town has several benefits. First of all, my two boys would see that 51 doesn’t mean life is over and that keeping fit keeps one younger. My residents at my assisted living would see that I practice what I preach. “If you don’t use it, you will lose it!”
So, you see, having a reliable, new, shiny bike with fenders, a rack and carrying bag/panniers would be “the cat’s meow, out of this world, a dream come true, amazing, wonderful, incredible and just plain lucky!
“Nothing compares to the simple pleasures of a bike ride.” - John F. Kennedy
The Second Place Essay:
First day riding 33 Degrees. P.S. The rack and pannier on the new bike would allow me to ditch the goofy backpack!
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I began riding my bike to work in November of 2005. My first day riding to work the temperature was 33 degrees. I wore a heavy sweatshirt and gym shorts with thick white socks to keep my feet warm. My work clothes and shoes were packed neatly into one of my son’s old back packs. I climbed onto my 26 year old Huffy Aerowind 12 speed racer and began the adventure of a lifetime. It is 6 miles to work. I leave at 6:45 AM and get there in about 26 minutes. My first big hill is at about the 1.5 mile mark. The old bike creaks as I slowly pedal the bike and my 46 year old, 6ft., 266 pound frame up the hill. The speedometer says that I am going 4.5 miles per hour; I think to myself that I could walk faster. My legs are burning and feel like concrete, I am breathing like I just outran a pack of wild elephants. Then I ask myself is this really going to work... I have now been riding to work for 10 months. I have lost 20lbs. and more than 3 inches off my waist. It only takes 19-20 minutes to get to work and I can attack the big hill at 8.5 mph. I still ride the 26 year old bike. Since I started riding, I raised over $1100.00 and rode in 150 mile Tour De Cure for Diabetes. I bike regularly with 2 groups of riders, one group is made up of people my own age or older (Smoky Mountain Wheelman). The other is a group of guys that are at least 10 years younger than me. I regularly finish 3-4 minutes behind them as they are fast on their super lightweight bikes (I staunchly maintain it is NOT the rider!). Regardless I continue to ride the best I can with the old bike. |
Everyone likes to make comments about the old bike, some smirk and others outright laugh at me. The guys at my bike shop, who I visit regularly, tell me to get a new bike and put the old bike in a museum. They worry about the amount of money I have put into for repairs of broken spokes, 2 sets of tires, a set of cranks and multiple flats, but so far it does not even compare to the cost of new bike.
I have ridden in the pouring down rain, in 95 degree heat, freezing cold and even had snow sting my face once as I rode last winter. I plan to continue to ride my bike back and forth to work and wherever else I need to get to. I have practically reduced the mileage on my pick up truck by 3 quarters on a weekly basis.
When I saw the flyer for the new bicycle I just had to write and tell you what a joy it has been to switch over to the bike and leave the truck at home. I feel better and I know that I am helping Knoxville traffic.
The only problem is the old bike is getting older and eventually it will not be able to hold up to the kind of wear and tear that a new commuter bike is able to withstand, for this reason I would hope that you would select me for the new bike.
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Nails on a blackboard, a rusty train screeching slowly to a halt on decrepit tracks; this is how the brakes on my bicycle sound. A bicycle should not sound like this; a bicycle is supposed to be the most environmentally friendly, efficient and unobtrusive means of transport on the planet! Not mine, every time I desperately come to a stop I steel myself for the inevitable bone crunching noise. Even in the booming cacophony of Cumberland Avenue, young and old have cowered in terror at the approaching high pitched wail. Oiling, greasing, new brake pads, all have been to no avail, the noise persists. Recently, it has also been accompanied by noisy protests from my gears whenever I try to utilize them on the hills around my house. So, what used to a pleasurable means of transport is now avoided for less high pitched alternatives.
With a new bicycle, weekends could be for exploring. Saturday, I would glide silently from my house to the grocery store. I’d fill ample panniers with groceries. Then, I would drop off the groceries, drink a quick cup of tea and travel downtown where I would complete a silent tour of Market Square and the Old City, filling the bags with provisions and indulgences. Sundays could be occupied with cycling along the greenways, finding out if my energy or the greenway expired first. Hills would be approached with expectation, not trepidation. Autumn leaves and wet bridges would not be avoided, as the new tires would have the necessary traction to avoid a muddy crash. Could a picnic fit into the pannier bags? If so, the journey could be prolonged with stops in IJAMS and other lovely locations. I’d end the weekend at home, bike parked and ready for the weekly commute.
The workweek could start with a greenway trip, not a choking, slow and stressful drive along Kingston Pike. It’s a strange contradiction in Knoxville, the greenways are a safe haven for cyclists and pedestrians alike, but as I approach my office downtown things get challenging very quickly. It’s a short interruption requiring higher levels of awareness and definitely alerts me to the day ahead. I’d get to work a little flush but calm and ready to approach what lies ahead. Fortunately, my employers realize the benefit of bicycles and have provided many bike parking spaces, it’s no fun trying to negotiate steps with a bike. The end of the day arrives, when I’m ready, no scrambling to avoid traffic and running to catch the bus. It may be sunny or rainy but, with mudguards and good panniers rain poses no problem. Knowing that dry clothes await me at home permits the rain to be refreshing. And that’s it, my new life; no stress in traffic, no fear of brakes screeching and a new perspective on Knoxville and its surroundings. All because of a new bicycle!
Riding Like the Wind Instead of Driving, Sitting and Getting Fat
Your bike giveaway got me excited because the benefits of a bike are endless.
I’m 58 years old, 20 pounds overweight and have high cholesterol because of the extra poundage I carry around.
I hate exercise, but I love bike riding.
With a bike I could:
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Go to the library to pick up my weekly reading material instead of driving.
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Shop at Broadway Shopping Center in Fountain City stores instead of driving.
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Bike to the grocery store for groceries instead of driving.
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Bike over to Cici’s pizza in Saturdays to watch the Vols put a “Tennessee butt-whupping” on their competition instead of driving.
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Ride the loop at Cades Cove and whiz by all the tourists instead of being stuck behind them in a car and breathing all their foul air.
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At work I could hop on the bike path in the park and over to the nearby restaurants instead of driving.
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I could drop 20 pounds and get off my cholesterol medication by biking instead of driving. Who knows, I might even be able to convince by wife, after she saw my boyish young figure, to join me instead of driving everywhere and not exercising.
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I could also use the bike to pick up chicks. I promised my wife I would get her some baby chickens so she could have fresh eggs. It would work nicely.
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Two or three people where I work are always bumming rides home from work and they seldom offer to give me any gas money. If I rode a bike to work I would really rack up savings in gasoline. I could always tell them, “Yes. I’ll give you a ride home on my bike, but you have to do all the peddling.”
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I have heard that it takes extra gas to run your air conditioner. But, by riding really, really fast the wind would cool me down and I wouldn’t need an air conditioner.
In conclusion, when you call me to tell me I won the bike and I can come to pick it up, I could take the bus to your location and ride the bike home, thus saving even more gas. I only hope I don’t put one of the major oil companies out of business when I start riding that new bike.
When people ask me why I carpool, I don’t jump into an exasperated explanation rooted in the frustration about the recent high costs of gasoline. When someone asks me how I can walk a round trip of three miles just to run an errand, I don’t start a lecture on how healthy it is and that more people should walk and save the wear and tear on their car (not to mention the gas). When someone asks me why I’m waiting on the bus instead of hopping into my car and driving where I need to go, I don’t remind them that we should all utilize public transportation so that not even one drop of gasoline in our buses’ gas tanks goes to waste.
Instead, when someone asks me those questions, I politely reply, “I’m just doing my part to help Mother Earth.”
That’s why I would love to win a new bicycle. I want a bike for every day that my carpool partner is out sick, and I'm forced to drive alone. I want a bike for every time that it’s raining, and the few flooded sidewalks between my destination and me make me want to reconsider my walk. I want a bike for every so often when the bus is running way behind, and I really need to get where I’m going quickly.
I have wanted a bike ever since I first signed up for Knoxville’s Smart Trips website in 2004. Smart Trips assisted me in finding a carpool partner, and I’ve carpooled ever since. The website truly opened my eyes to all of the alternatives to driving alone, and I promote the virtues of alternative transportation to anyone who will listen. When someone starts complaining about gas prices, I ask them if they have ever thought of carpooling or taking the bus to work. Most of them don’t want to give up the “independence” of having a vehicle in the parking lot, but many of the people I’ve talked to have opened up their mind to the alternatives to driving alone.
In fact, I was even able to convince some of my co-workers to give carpooling a chance. I’m proud to say several of them liked it, and they have made carpooling a regular form of transportation to and from work. Now I want to increase my efforts in using alternative means of transportation by using a bicycle.
To me, this bike isn’t just some prize; it’s an opportunity. This bicycle is an opportunity for me to show Knoxville that if I can bike to work, maybe others can, too.
After all, we each should do our part to help Mother Earth
Rough Roads: A Bike Essay in 12 parts
Night on Kingston Pike
Rear tire flattens somberly
Fireflies blink their lamentations
Sunday morning ride
Pastoral loop through East Knox farmlands
Shattered car window on return
Committed to cease car commute
New house in Bearden near greenway
Forest Heights will cinch my demise
Herons on Third Creek
Quality of life at a river’s confluence
The natural world defined
A new bike
People will stop and comment
She commutes like Cezanne painted!'
Friggin hills
Fort Sanders will always be hard
Nietzche was wrong
UT to Gay
Stuck daily at Henley and Clinch
Light knows no go
My hovel 3 hills from Ashe’s
Kelty pack crushing my back
Heavy with Merlot
Panniers!!!!
Hope to someday own
(See above)
The Holy Bicycle Trinity
Bataille, Walsh, Skelton, Nolt, Segars
Give or take
No money nor lovelife
Crumbled 30-year marriage
Bikes are steadfast...generally
Low-end Giant
Steely-framed love/hate relationship
Ready to move on