Bicycle Life

Since September 2011 I have lived without a car. This has been a major change for me, an American who had lived in the suburbs for the past 21 years. Until then my car was my only means of transportation. Basically, my legs were used for going to and from my car. I drove to the supermarket, the mall, the post office and work. The only places I didn't drive to were the local park and to the mailbox.

The nice thing about a car is that your sphere of activity is greatly enhanced. You can drive tens or hundreds of miles away in a relatively short time. People that might be too far away to be friends if we had to walk or bike, now are within driving distance. Going to the city to a nice restaurant or to a museum is no longer an ordeal. On the other hand, going everywhere by car does have its consequences. When I went to the U.S. to visit in March I noticed for the first time how much heavier Americans are than the average Japanese. In my city in America very few people walk or ride bicycles. Businesses are far from residential areas and narrow road shoulders make riding a bicycle dangerous. This is a result of our almost total reliance on the car for transportation. My community was designed to be car dependent.

Since coming to Utsunomiya, I have become an active cyclist. I cycle to work, the supermarket, downtown, the station, and to see my friends. I have lost 15 pounds in the process. I feel healthier and happier. One thing I have noticed about cycling is that there is much more sensory input than when I was driving my car. Now I hear things, smell things, feel things and see things that I didn't notice when I drove. I notice more changes in the weather. It is no longer a mystery to me that the Japanese calendar was divided up into smaller units. When I am outside every day, I notice the small changes in temperature and the plants and animals that I see or no longer see.

Riding a bicycle has allowed me to experience the world around me more intimately. In so many aspects cycling has improved my life: aesthetically, sensually, health-wise, and socially, I feel more closely connected to my community. I hope you can share my love for cycling too and that we can meet somewhere in this wonderful city.