I hope so!
In considering who I see riding around town…and who rides with our local club…and in light of my recent experience with organized bike touring (the DALMAC)…and in looking through an issue of “Adventure Cyclist” magazine…I’d say that youngsters have little interest in freedom.
It’s mostly grayhairs that I see out there on bikes.
That’s weird.
These would, of course, be mostly the same grayhairs who came of age in the 70’s when Bike Liberation was first discovered in a big way in this country.
Freedom! For cheap!
It was a great sales pitch. Coz it was true. With a bike you could travel or get anywhere cheaply and quite quickly. You get fresh air, get in shape, get to meet nice people and save tons of money. What could be better?
And this is still the case!
I presume that the kids are still out there. And even more of them than ever before. They’re under the radar as always. Out there hitching, biking, exploring.
However, when I recently spoke with some youngsters about Spring Break travel they lamented about how much it cost. Obviously their parents were footing the bill but the kids still were impressed by the tab.
And it seems that bike culture might be actually being pitched now mostly to retirees with lots of money. Is it being sold to kids as a cheap way to explore? I’m not sure. I see lots of VERY pricey tours being promoted in bike media. Where the bikers are swaddled in vans. Vans that bracket their every movement. Cars and planes. It’s kinda embarrassing. And servile. That seems worst. I mean, deluxe touring is nice but it would naturally play a minor role in the overall scheme. Affordability is always the mainstay of an indy culture. The class dynamics of hiring someone to help you have a good time need to be carefully navigated. Guides are great, but start talking to guides in any activity and you quickly get to the dark side. A guide as slave or crutch is a bad thing. Guide as maestro is acceptable but exotic and perhaps of minor interest compared to the value of a guide who mostly works to enrich your independence.
I remember doing a ride-share to Florida for a Spring Break once. When I got there I met a bunch of other teens and wel all bike-toured informally for a week. Then I found a ride home. Thus I spent a healthy week camping along the beaches for $5/night, eating fresh seafood cooked over a campfire, enjoying underage (minimal and responsible) white wine-drinking in the evenings (goes with fish)…all for about $100. Where’s the barrier in that?
When my bro and a friend and I took our first monthlong bike tour at ages 16, 16 and 17 we were gone over a month for $150 each. We had a great time. We rode over 1000 miles and explored different states and Great Lakes cultures on less than $5/day.
It’s still easy to find free tentsites. PBJ is still cheap. Bikes still don’t need gas or expensive repair. So where are all the liberated kids out exploring THEIR nation on paper-route incomes?
Yeah, I know that even this idea today seems laughable. But if I was a kid who’d been pent up in a school for over a month, it wouldn’t be laughable to me even now! And I’d be SEARCHING for a way out. And finding THE BIKE as the answer would STILL be a breeze!
And if you think it’s a more dangerous world out there today—forget that! I hate that kind of lame reaction. What kid would believe such a lie anyway? The world is theirs FOR TAKING. They should IGNORE such talk. I remember people telling me that hitch-hiking was dead when I was doing it in the mid-80’s. It was a lie then, too. It’s always a lie. If you keep your eyes open and try you’ll be fine. Fine enough. Sure there’s risk. So be it. There always is. But of course these are much safer days. To get to 2 of the biggest points in this regard… #1: cellphone. #2: electric dog fence. Cycling is a safe thing to do. The couch is by far the most dangerous place. And for kids a car is clearly more risky.
The main thing is that youth need to get out there and explore and engage. Both aspects are important. They need to become pro’s at navigating their own communities. AND they need to see how things are done elsewhere. Explore and engage.
It’s their world. Nothing is holding them back. And the bike is still a good ticket to ride.
