"The Breakdown of Nations"
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
...perhaps the OP could explain how modern transportation modalities have led to the "breakdown of nations."
My take on the conclusion of the piece is well-expressed by the Introduction to the Road Cycling Forum...
Originally Posted by
prairiepedaler
We've all experienced what the author has expressed; you notice the surroundings as you ride a bike much more than if by car.
Small stuff by the side of the road? A tiny obscure door that led into a small yet cool shop you never knew was there but has been for years? Conversations with those waiting at the bus stop for a bus that is always late?
Experienced!
Those comments are indeed IMO, in agreement with the posted text...not IMO with the “Breakdown of Nations.
I have posted about my seemingly trivial but interesting observations while riding:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I'm very motivated by novelty, and stymied by boredom on a bike, but I do have the motivation of commuting to work.
I have found that when I drive my frequent, decades-old routes I often notice things I had not seen before. I think it’s because I can look around at more than just the road surface when driving.
So when the commute [route] is getting too familiar, I just raise my head higher and look over a wider field of view….
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
A local BF subscriber @rholland1951 who contributes hundreds of photographs to the local Metro Boston thread from the same 11-mile long MUP he rides, once commented something like that "just the lighting / time of day / day of the year makes the ride “different.”
So too does the direction, one way, or the reverse.
Originally Posted by
acidfast7
“The Same "Different"; But Even More So...”
For me, just about every commute to or from work requires stopping somewhere either for stuff relating to the house renovation, meeting someone, shopping for the evening, something relating to the child or a drink after work.
I enjoy interacting with the same routes at different times in different directions. Have a nearly-car-free lifestyle is great in many ways, including how one interacts with their urban environment.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…Appropos of this comment, for the past few years after doing training rides all around [Metro Boston], I have thought this about these long rides.
Whereas inhabitants of neighborhoods know their areas as an entirety, I know them as routes with peculiar things I note as landmarks.
It becomes very satisfying when I ride a new route and it suddenly intercepts a familiar route in the same neighborhood, and that neigborhood now becomes more of an entirety to me too.
Often when I meet someone new, I ask them where they live because invariably I’ve ridden through their neighborhood, and that question spurs a lively conversation.