Personal Narrative Portion of my Position Synthesis Paper

Angela Fields

English 1010

09/23/2015

                                            Biking in Boise

I am not alone in my tales of first rides and first falls but I will tell you that it never ended there for me and shouldn’t for anyone. The reasons I tell the stories here is to convey how biking helped me as a person as a means of exercise for both body and mind and how I lessen my carbon footprint by riding. If we were to all bike instead of drive, we would lesson pollution significantly and be a lot healthier. Using Boise as an example for an entire city dedicated to strengthening these concepts; that it’s not hard to bike verses drive and in a lot of ways it’s easier. I will tell how I was part of this cities ideals and hope to bring them here to Utah and elsewhere.

My journey of how I ended up in Boise started in Maryland where I was born. There I used my bike to petal off 80 pounds of laziness as my means to get to and from both of my jobs and from the gym. An hour each way gives you the time to think about all the things you’d like to, on a peaceful ride through the country side. After one such brainstorm session, my 5 month journey alone over eight states and one province was plotted. Landing me in Boise, Idaho for 9 months.

 Never before have I ever felt so at home with a place and I couldn’t tell you if it was its charm as a city or the intimacy I felt after biking through its streets. Maybe a bit of both. Despite the fact that I brought my bike to Boise via car, I hope that I lessened my carbon impact, when I was never parted from it thereafter. Even in winter biking to and fro, the crisp air filling my lungs and blood pumping to warm the body with others huddled inside. I watched everything as I rode the quiet surroundings, serine in their season. Alone I may have been riding around the city but together with my bike as always before, it never really felt like I was.

Without doing the hard break down, I’d calculate the gallons I saved in Boise by cycling instead of driving as many. Also if I had to guess the number of miles I biked instead of drove, I'd have to say most. To be honest I don’t consider a moment lost as the hours stretched on, I felt as if I were living 200% of every breath and every inch worth every mile. If there was a day that passed that I couldn’t bike due to weather or situation, I would do more on an exercise bike or feel a nearly inconceivable sickness from my lack of activity. The goat heads tried to hinder me at times by popping my tire tubes. My local bike shop always had my back only a five minute walk around the corner. Eventually I stuck it to the stickers and bought an upgrade, puncture proof tires made of Kevlar, which is material in bullet proof vests. I never paused for popping again!

In Boise, the city has something similar to what we have here along the Jordan River but with major differences. The city calls it the green belt. Running alongside the Boise River, the green belt never crosses a motorized roadway (nor does it allow any motorized transport). The city has built bridges over and under them, for the path that is only as wide as one lane of most streets. Small enough to weave in and out of the communities for convenience and scenic views but wide enough to support the entirety of the communities that wish to be part of a more practical greener transportation system. “To your right!” we call out to walkers, boarders, skaters, or other bikers to indicate we were about to pass them. Parks are embedded with the path on either side making easy access to local gatherings and happenings. Stretching the length of the town, the path makes a trip to downtown not an ordeal but an exercise for the mind, body and soul that would brighten anyone’s day.

Listening to birds, bugs and the sound of the river waters running carelessly over the river rocks one scarcely has need of a music player. The noise and bustle of the city, though it is literally intertwined with the path, is nearly absent from its appearance and atmosphere. Just off the paths are bike racks nuzzled into every business setting inviting you to come in and worry not for your companion, like it may have been with horses and hitching posts in older days.  Biking more often to the stores, a backpack or basket full, was usually all one needed to transport goods. In the summer, spring, and fall months it is not too uncommon to see swimmers in the ponds, fly fishers along the edges or floaters hanging onto one another laughing in the glistening sun winding along with the river currents.

          I can see the communities and people of Utah and elsewhere also benefiting from riding bikes often as it is in Boise. Stories like this could grow and be shared in a mutual accomplishment that will bring pride to the hearts of our cities. My project event Hike to Bike will raise part of the necessary tools and human drive to convert this failing and harmful transportation system into one that gives back to the people that participate. My story highlights how Boise and I set the pace of the ideals we hope will roll into every town and mobile system everywhere. Changing communities often unwilling and stunting misconception of practical travel into one that works. Pollution caused by our transportation system and personal health affect us all. By building on the ideas at the core of Project Cycle, these and other issues will be addressed and collaboratively worked on. One breath of effort towards this greener goal today can help everyone breathe easier tomorrow.