Alliance > Media center > People Powered Blog

Entries tagged: Inspiration

It’s no secret we love Momentum magazine. The Vancouver-based publication has always been a strong supporter of bicycle advocacy and celebrates everyday bike culture in a way that’s engaging and accessible for both new and long-time cyclists.

So we were particularly excited to dig into a new book from one of Momentum’s founders: Amy Walker.

Released just last month, On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life spans the spectrum of bike inspiration and insight. Like the title promises, this little book includes 50 short essays from great writers like Grist contributor and zine author Elly Blue, journalist Jeff Mapes, bike shop owner Aaron Goss, the Alliance’s own Kristen Steele and even a self-described “enchanted unicorn from magical Portland, where the weather’s always sunny and flats fix themselves” (!)

In On Bicycles, Walker has compiled a wide variety of articles, including:

• Pieces packed with interesting stats on the environmental and health benefits of bicycling,
• How-to articles that give novice and veteran cyclists ideas on everything from rain protection and pannier selection to the finer points of folding bikes and internally geared hubs,
• And inspirational stories on the art, magic and transformation made possible by bicycles.

Whether you know nothing or everything about bicycles and bike culture, Walker’s book will teach you a little something and, more importantly, make you smile. The breezy prose makes On Bicycles nearly impossible to put down. (Luckily, I had two marathon flights from Washington, DC to San Francisco — and back again — to savor all 354 pages last week.)

It’s fitting that Walker kicks off the book by saying: “Warning! Cycling can be addictive. Before you grab onto those handlebars, before you throw a leg over the saddle and start pumping away at those pedals, be aware: once you start, you may never want to stop. And, like anything that looks good, feels good and does good, you’ll want to share it.”

Same goes for her book: Once you start reading you’ll want to buy copies for everyone you know. Check out www.OnBicycles.com to learn more or visit New World Library to order a copy. In the meantime, click here to read a great interview with Walker.

(Want to see your byline in Momentum magazine? Submit your best pictures of biking and walking in the 2011 People Powered Movement Photo Contest — the winning entries will be published in a 2012 issue of Momentum!)

A little Bike to Work Day inspiration from our friends at Planet Bike...

Planet Bike from Planet Bike on Vimeo.

You may not know Dayton Duncan’s name, but you’re probably familiar with his work. Even if you don’t own a television, you heard the buzz about Ken Burn’s spectacular 2010 mini-series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”

Well, Duncan was the man behind the camera, scripting the narrative that earned the 12-part documentary two Emmy Awards for outstanding writing. Yesterday, Duncan served as an inspiring keynote speaker at the American Trails National Symposium.

While his speech related most directly to trails and national parks, I couldn’t help but apply his insight to the broader bicycle and pedestrian movement. Duncan spoke eloquently of John Muir’s spiritual conversion and passionate crusades to preserve our sacred vistas and valleys. Duncan suggested that, in our work to create environments that get more Americans off the couch and into the open air, we are following in Muir’s footsteps. By creating the infrastructure and shaping a culture that better serves the spirit and health of future generations, we are equally immortal.

On one hand, Duncan’s speech made me want to ditch my job, hop on a bike and start pedaling across the country to take in all 58 national parks. But on the other, it framed the importance of the daily grind of bike-ped advocacy. We’re not designating national parks, but Alliance member organizations have a similar, perhaps even more important, goal. We’re enhancing our everyday public spaces to better serve our physical and spiritual wellbeing — and the health of generations to come.

Here’s a few snippets from Duncan’s speech:

“We are a nation more and more urban, more and more disconnected from the natural world, more and more distracted by the virtual realities that engulf us — from meeting friends on Facebook, to talking to people on Twitter, to watching reality shows about real housewives or real kids, and, yes, even spending 12 hours watching a documentary film about national parks, instead of taking 30 minutes to walk in a city park. We’re a nation in desperate need of getting up off the couch and out in open air. Everything you do encourages that noble essential goal, so thank you very much for what you do.

“You’ve heard a lot about trails the last few days and a lot of focus on trails is, very rightfully, about how good they are for people’s health… For me, trails are important, not so much for my physical health, but I think about what they do for my spiritual health; not just strengthening your heart, but touching your heart and transforming your life. There’s an old Native American saying: All roads are good. In other words, it’s not the destination; it’s the journey. It’s not what you set off to find, but what you discover along the way that matters the most. And I’d like to modify that today and declare, All trails are good… All trails are good because they invite you to follow them and open yourself up to experience the world, not on Facebook but face-to-face, not through a plasma screen, but through no screen at all…

“Few of us are John Muir. We may not have his eloquence, his distilled passion, his unbending determination and therefore his immense immortal impact on the world. But all of us understand the importance of national parks, city parks and trails and all the public lands, which he championed. We all here agree that all trails are good because they can open us up to connection to rest of creation and expose us to something bigger than ourselves. All trails are good, not just for our physical health, but our spiritual health — maybe for our spiritual health most of all… That’s why the work you do is so important. Every 100 yards of trails — no, every yard of trail — wherever it is, newly made or restored, makes a difference. Every person you encourage to take one of those trails is made better because of your work. Therefore, like John Muir you are impacting and shaping a future we won’t see, but that we hope will be better than the present.”