Bikes aren’t Brussels sprouts, they’re pizza!
My name is Julian Bessinger, and I’m the new Director of Strategic Advancement at Bike Newport.
When I lived in NYC, Paris, and Ho-Chi-Minh City, it was my habit to walk to work. When I moved to Providence, my work at the RI Department of Education was a bit too long of a walk, so I took up bike commuting. Like many of you reading this blog, I favor walking and biking as ways to mitigate the harm my existence does to the climate – plus there’s the chance to get a little more fit in the process. What I didn’t anticipate is that bike commuting would be incredibly fun, life-altering, and rewarding.
Until then, for me the joy of riding a bike on a sunny afternoon had no relationship to the challenge of getting where I needed to go. It was a revelation to rediscover the joy of purposeful movement, the appreciation for where I live, and the escape from enduring traffic in a glass-and-metal box. Even as a dedicated pedestrian who knew the benefits of endorphins, I was surprised by the discovery of “bike happiness.” How could something so good for the world and so good for me also be so fun?
The rabbit hole of answering that question led me along the path from amateur mechanics classes to volunteering at the Lefty Loosey Bike Collective to part-time work as a bike mechanic and ultimately to Bike Newport. I felt like the keeper of a secret, a solution to so many of the challenges of our time.
And so we arrive at the pizza …
On a recent episode of the podcast War on Cars, Brent Toderian, former chief planner in Vancouver, BC, said that telling people to bike more felt like telling people to eat more vegetables. Unless you’re a vegivore, it’s not a compelling comparison! Imagine instead that the choice that’s better for you and the planet also makes you happier! “Imagine the healthy choice making you as happy as pizza, not as happy as Brussels sprouts. … We know that makes us happier, right? … Walking is pizza, cars are Brussels sprouts!” I totally agree – because in the case of transportation, the best choice for the environment and for our health is also the choice that’s the most fun – bikes are pizza! And ice cream!
Bike Newport