Just like a Prayer....

A friend of mine recently equated [Austin]cycling to a religion. I guffawed at first but then gave it a second thought and considered that he may be on to something. I know that cycling is a lifestyle choice that I have made that directs a lot of the ways that I interact with my friends, and this city, and the places that I live and patron, and where I work, etc.. It determines the amount of consumption I am capable of per day and gives me plenty of time to reflect on my day and my life.

The recent visit of the Bicycle Film Festival, with it's plethora of beautiful and varied velo- themed flicks, reiterated how much people love their bikes and their communities, their lifestyle choices and their beneficial impact on this planet.

I am so proud to know so many tuned-in, totally rad, alternative lifestyle, bike geeks who totally love their two wheeled steeds, their human powers, and their beautiful planet.

Go online, run a search for your local bike community. Read the blogs, get hip to the local cycling politics, look at the flickr pics, donate to cycling fundraisers, support your local bicycle cooperative community, oggle the "chicks and bikes" and "girls on bikes!" pin-up's, connect humans all around the world via their shared passion for the road or the trail, the ramp, or the polo court. Just take a minute to recall the number of cyclists you are starting to see in your neck of the woods. Remember the huge smile they probably had smacked on their face?! Life feeling like a redundant routine? Bored, overweight, under-challenged? Consider opening your heart and your thoughts to the eclectic and ever-accepting social, sport-like, anti-sedentary, serendipitous cycling counter-culture! Like Freddy Mercury and Queen exclaimed, "Get on your bike and RIDE!".

If cycling is like a religion, then I think I have finally found the good word that I can speak to the masses. I plan to teach by example of course, every day, for as long as I live.

Work to eat, eat to live, live to bike, bike to work! -Peggy McKenzie

Bike Love from me to you,
Maureen Mo Grady