BICYCLING BACK TO THE BASICS

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A DREAM COME TRUE

I guess we were pretty demanding . . . because we ended up biking through the entire eastern seaboard, the South, arid the Southwest without finding a suitable home. But we were awed by our first sight of the dazzling peaks and deep blue skies of Northern California, and we decided to settle there . . . on 12.5 jointly purchased acres.

Nowadays, none of us has to work full time. Occasional, part-time jobs provide us with all the cash we need to augment our homegrown food and keep our bicycle wheels greased. We stay plenty busy, though . . . transforming an old shed on our property into an attractive cabin . . . planting a wheat field and fruit orchard . . and working our garden . . . all jobs which have been attacked with joy, especially since our energies are no longer drained by full-time jobs outside the homestead.

STILL NOT CONVINCED?

You know, one problem with society today—we think—is that everyone tends to believe that "more is better". However, we think we've added quality to our lives by living with less.

Bicycling has enriched us in any number of ways . . . over and above helping purchase our dream spot. We've found that we can achieve an almost intimate relationship with our environs by pedaling from place to place. We've been serenaded by yipping coyotes while biking under the moon's gray light . . . and have inhaled spring's sweet elixir of mountain lilac and meadow grasses under a morning sun.

Pedaling our way around is a wonderful way to keep fit, too. Yet, the improvements in our physical health aren't the most important changes we've noticed. Long-distance cycling has led us into a self-discipline that can be applied to all aspects of life.

There are other valuable, but less obvious, benefits to the sport, too. Bicyclists tend to be efficient and wise shoppers . . . simply because their panniers (saddlebags), although quite roomy, won't be able to hold a whole lot of supplies at any one time, and there's no room to spare for nonessentials.

But, in our opinion, the greatest benefit of switching to two-wheeled transportation comes in the knowledge that we aren't polluting our environment as we travel.

ON THE OTHER HAND . . .

I've given special emphasis to the posi tive aspects of biking because I believe that attitude has more to do with one's potential for enjoying bicycling than does any other single factor. But, to be fair, I must admit there are disadvantages, as well.

First, the person who travels by bike must accept the fact that his or her range of easy access will decrease considerably. For instance, a trip to a shopping center that's only one hour away by car will be a serious expedition by bicycle. Furthermore, the cyclist won't always be able to purchase replacement supplies as soon as the need is noticed. Instead, he or she will learn to wait until the shopping list is fairly long before making a trek into town.

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