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Editorial: Pedal power

When GoByBike Week, formerly known as Bike to Work and School Week, begins on Monday, May 28, the phrase, “It’s like riding a bike,” will become a literal metaphor for participants who do not jump on a bicycle regularly.
Bike Week

When GoByBike Week, formerly known as Bike to Work and School Week, begins on Monday, May 28, the phrase, “It’s like riding a bike,” will become a literal metaphor for participants who do not jump on a bicycle regularly.

And guess what? Since use of the phrase alludes to the fact that once a skill is learned it is never forgotten, the exact phrase applies in this case, as ridiculous as it may sound. Riding a bike is…like riding a bike.

Most cyclists, avid or not, learned how to balance themselves and peddle away from their parents or instructor at a young age. Some required training wheels for longer than others, but after the odd bump or bruise, or even some scrapes and cuts, that moment of freedom and exuberance eventually came for everyone when they realized the objective of balancing on two wheels without an adult running beside them and holding onto their shirt.

Until reaching driving age, bicycles increase possibilities for adventure among youth, expanding their range of travel and diminishing their reliance on parents or guardians for travelling to and from where they need to go.

But somewhere along the way, that magical feeling is lost for a good number of young cyclists. For some, acquiring a driver’s licence, having access to a vehicle, or buying one, along with entering the workforce, put an end to or severely decrease the need and desire for two-wheel travelling.

GoByBike aims to bring back the magic by encouraging everyone to dust off his or her bike and ride to work or school for one week.

Despite being a mere five days out of 365, the event does require a commitment and some coordinating, but not a lot. The only real requirements are willpower, a towel to wipe off the sweat, a change of clothes, and maybe a deodorant stick, although for some, the commute to work is downhill and unlikely to require much exertion. For them, the ride home is the workout.

Cyclists who ride year-round have their own reasons for doing so, whether for health benefits, to be environmentally friendly, or, possibly, they never lost the magic. Whatever the reason, few things in life provide more inspiration than watching someone peddling home in the rain, especially up one of the many hills in Westview, or from Townsite up to Cranberry or Wildwood. Luckily, for this year’s participants, rain is not in the forecast, so pulling out the raingear might be premature and unnecessary.

Pump up the tires, grease the chain, and rediscover the magic.

Cycling week rolls into Powell River, May 24