OPINION
You stand on it, and when you lean forward you move forward at about the same speed that someone who rides a bike four times each year would average on flat ground. Anyway, seeing these grown men in suits on hoverboards was, I can’t say ‘freakish,’ I suppose. ‘Disconcerting’ seems a fair, non-judgemental word that says more about me than them. But seriously, did these guys know how ridiculous they looked? I say that as somebody who routinely shaves his legs and roars around town on a folding bike, sometimes wearing a tuxedo. My Brompton World Championships training and attire aside, when I saw these men on hoverboards the same day that I saw the young men on e-scooters, it dawned on me that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore… or 1988! The third horsewoman was sighted later that night. It was actually a collection of several women, one or two guys, and a child I saw on the sidewalks of the poshest urban bit of the near-in suburb of Washington D.C. where I live. In the space of five minutes I saw no fewer than a dozen of these folks clearly heading to some kind of exercise class, with things like yoga mats, gym bags and upscale water bottles (no BPA of course!) in tow.
None were arriving by bike – they were either coming from the train or walking from the ‘upscale city living’ apartments where they live. It was like a scene that a Hollywood elite would stage for a sitcom opening intended to reflect the blandness and uniformity of suburban life, as everyone was pretty damned similar. It clearly reflected the craze and trend of the ever-increasing options in fitness classes, whether they be spin cycling by candlelight with Enya music, kickboxing, something that emphasises the ‘core,’ Zumba, a Brazilian variety of martial arts, something that has the word ‘soul,’ in it, or others. If you remember the years when Starbucks was opening stores literally a block apart from each other in urban settings, that is how it now seems with trendy fitness studios. These are all fine things I’m sure, but as a cycling person I must note that my sighting of the uber-fit class takers were all within two or three blocks of a car-free trailhead that connects to other paved and gravel trails extending perhaps 1,000km or more. There was an hour or more of sunlight left, and all these people would rather attend a ‘class’ than ride a bike. How did we lose these folks, and how do we get them back?
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