There has been something on my mind lately that I just can't seem to get past. Some of you who may be reading this may not be aware that there is a forum which all of the riders on the Sea to Sea tour have access to in order to trade training tips, encouragement, and just generally get to know each other a little better before we meet at the end of June. The thing on my mind has to do with what was seemingly a throw away comment made by one rider, I don't even know who it was and I think figuring it out would create unnecessary tension. The comment touched on the irony that the tour is raising money to reduce poverty by having nearly two hundred cyclists ride expensive bikes across the country.
I see the irony in this, but at the same time I felt it was trying to implicate us for owning a high quality product. I confess that my bike is the second most expensive thing that I own behind my car. However, my bike is not a trophy, it is a tool.
Since my junior year of college I have been trying to shape my life to match my ideology. It was at this time that I discovered conflicts of interest in my world view. Gas prices had just started getting to a level where we realized that they would never be going back down to the level they had been my entire life and everyone was complaining about it. China had entered the oil purchasing market in a big way and production couldn't keep up. We blame it on China, but who are we to say that we need or deserve oil more than anyone else? It's like when a new neighbor moves in and they neglect their lawn more than anyone else, we complain that they are ruining our neighborhood as if the whole thing belongs to us because we lived there longer. I love taking road trips. They cost more now and you can't blame anyone for it, you just need to adapt.
This is, naturally, the same time at which global warming/climate change became a major issue. As gas consumption increases, so does pollution from carbon emmisions which leads to more heat being trapped in the atmosphere. With the very convincing case that was presented by Al Gore in 'An Inconvenient Truth' and with evidence from many other scientists spread across a variety of branches of science, I began to see how human activity was effecting earth, and I was a part of it. I have tracked my gas milage for the last few years because I like messing around with numbers, but I never thought to look for how much gas I was actually using. In the last two years I have used 1000 gallons!
I have always thought of the cultural mandate (Gen 1:28) as God reinforcing man as his chosen among creation, but recently I have questioned what the meaning of the statement "Fill the earth, and subdue it" means and if man might have either forgetten this commandment or misinterpretted the word subdue.
Because of these factors I decided that I needed to reduce the amount of time I spend driving from one place to another without cutting myself off from the communities I am a member of. It was at this point I decided I needed to ride my bike more. It allows me to travel at a good rate of speed while not costing the environment or my wallet anything. It even benefits my health.
This still doesn't explain why I needed an expensive bike, however.
I have always been an athlete. I love to compete. In college I ran track and cross country, so when I graduated I needed to find a way to keep exercising. Cycling was one of those things I never had time to get really into because I was training for other things, now I finally did have time. So when I went to get a bike to ride instead of my car I wanted one that I could use for races as well. I could have bought one for each activity, but I see that as wasteful. That route would mean I would be be consuming twice as many resources and one half would always be sitting around since I couldn't use both at once. So I went for the one that I would get the most use out of.
I believe the person who was making the comment that set me off a bit was referencing how much our society wastes money on frivolous extras while other societies are trying to make something out of nothing to survive. I am aware that I belong to this society geographically, I just don't like being lumped into it undiscerningly.
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2 comments:
Yes...the irony of the cost vs the cause has come up a lot for me too. I don't know if you read my piece in the Banner or earlier in my blog but here is my take- the equipment reminds me of my blessings,
More importantly, Sea-To-Sea is not just a personal adventure. It's not just about me going beyond my physical and mental comfort zones. Sea-To-Sea is about being aware that the bike I ride is worth a few months salary to some people; that my helmet would buy tuition, books and a uniform for some child to go to school for a year; that I don't have to worry about whether the water in my bottle is safe to drink; that by completing this ride someone else can have a chance at better standard of living. I can't change the whole world, but I can make a difference in someone else’s world.
I guess I'm really in trouble if I've got two bikes and they are #1 and #2 the most expensive things I've ever bought?
I really appreciated what you had to say though, When we're conscious about the discrepancy between our ideology and the lives we live, we're beginning to make the change we'd like to see. While I don't think we need to feel guild laden by the possessions we have, there is a real benefit to recognizing the difference. Last spring when my quiver of bikes got one wider (ask me the rest of the story next summer) and I was questioning where on the totem pole of my values cycling was being placed I had a discussion with a co-op student visiting down expressing his wish for an easier way to get groceries than a long walk to the grocery store. I had a bike to lend him for the summer. If I hadn't recognized the fact that I was amassing a collection of bikes was a bit weird, I would have missed the opportunity to lend out the bike.
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