Things I Like About Smallville #1: Cycling
Smallville is a very bike friendly town, with dedicated bike lanes, bicycle only streets, an impressive network of bike paths along the river, and most importantly for me: few hills. Girlfriendy is part mountain goat and lives to climb. I am part panda and think the best part of cycling is snacks and Gatorade. Girlfriendy is an experienced commuter cyclist and can ride a century with nary a concern. I forget to take my feet out of the baskets on my pedals when I come to a stop. So we’re basically The Odd Couple on wheels.
If ever there was a place for me to earn my cycling stripes, however, it would be the not-so-mean streets of Smallville.
You see, Metropolis has a cycling culture which takes itself pretty seriously, from the borderline fascist purists to the too cool for brakes hipsters. Here in Smallville, I see far less hipsters on fixies and many more students riding rusty contraptions barefoot and one-handed while simultaneously smoking, drinking coffee, texting, and listening to their iPod. In addition to the beater bikes favored by undergrads I see lots of utility bikes equipped with racks, baskets, bags, trailers and crates. It’s about function over form. People are using their bikes to get somewhere, not make a statement about their personal identity and self worth. All in all it makes for a much more laidback cycling experience.
Note: I’m horrified by the lack of helmets. Absolutely horrified. Nobody wears helmets here! Helmet awareness just has not made it all the way to Smallville, I suppose.
I have even biked to work a few times and lived to tell about it, something I felt was pretty impossible to attempt in Metropolis. Okay, so we live about a mile away from the university. Still!
This past weekend we biked to and along the paved paths that run by the river. They were flat and winding and just oh so scenic, especially when crossing the bridges over the water. No Lance Armstrong wanna-be’s whizzing past at 20mph, either. Just families and couples out for a ride. I like the bike paths. I love the bike paths. I can’t wait to ride the bike paths again.
Yep, my favorite part of Smallville so far is the bike paths.