Part of our internship program involves each intern writing a blog about a particular topic they’ve learned or discovered. For this one, Dylan Rizol, a Business management major at Indiana University, has tackled the blog:
Riding a bicycle is one of the most freeing and joyous things that you can do in my opinion. I think this because there are so many things that you can do with a bike, you could go for a long ride, short ride, a leisurely ride, a ride for fitness, a race, etc. Having a bike lets an individual explore the world in both a fun and healthy way. There is no doubt how healthy biking is, but I think that some people miss out on the true joys of bicycling when they view as mostly a mechanism to exercise or as a way to get around.
When I first started riding as a kid having a bike was a type of freedom that I wouldn’t experience again until I was able to drive. Besides the freedom that biking gave me as a kid, and still today, was the ability to explore my world much more easily. Walking and running were fine but you could never really explore a whole lot just walking around because it just took so long. But on a bike you can explore much more a lot faster and more easily making it that much more enjoyable as a kid growing up and experiencing new places.
The bicycle is a mode of transportation for many college students.
Fast forwarding to myself in college living off campus a bike became an essential part of my life to be able to get from class to class quickly and easily. I’ll admit that when I’m on campus I tend to think of my bike more as a mode of transportation rather than something that’s taking me on a journey, but that’s what happens when you’re late to class. More recently though I have begun to think of my bike as not only transportation but also as a tool for exercise, as I believe many people do. As soon as I got on my bike to actually do rides for exercise I noticed that it was completely different from using it as transportation, before I just wanted to go somewhere, now I wanted to do something.
As I began I didn’t really think about anything other than how fast I was going, how far I would like to go, and how hard it is to get up that hill. And I think that’s a shame, as I shouldn’t only look at my workout and bike as a means to an end, but I should also enjoy the ride and the journey. After a few rides and as I got more comfortable on the bike in terms of exercise, I began taking this viewpoint into consideration and noticing things and thinking about how nice it is to just be able to go ride. Now when I ride for exercise I don’t even think of it as exercising because it’s fun! And remembering the freedom and fun that riding has brought me over the years makes riding just that much better, not to mention it allows me to go farther and farther.
The freedom you experience is one of the many reasons why people enjoy biking.
Biking is a wonderful activity because it can accomplish so many things at once. And sometimes I think people get overwhelmed by this and lose some of the passion that brought them there in the first place. People these days are all worried about who’s fastest, who’s skinniest, who can go the farthest, which is fine but it takes away the fun. If you ride daily look around and think about how nice it is to be out and enjoy the freedom it brings. If you don’t ride normally you should start because it’s a wonderful way to get around and it’s just a fun thing to do whether alone or with people.