***This is one individual's experience and not meant to represent a broader population***
Coronavirus has changed virtually everything about the routine of daily life as we knew it. From travel, restrictions to stay at home orders to events, and races being slashed from the calendar. In some ways, it feels like everything is changed and yet the one thing that feels normal – is riding. I can still go out on my bike and feel like one thing is still right in the world.
If anything, I have been inspired and encouraged to see how many people have turned to bikes during this pandemic. People are dusting off and fixing up bikes that have been stored away for years – a tool for transportation, an outlet for mental and physical well-being, a way for family to spend time together, and a means for finding ways to connect with others.
A couple of weeks ago, since I couldn’t see my friend Anna, I decided I would ride over and drop off some cookies – to let her know I was thinking about her (and offload some of my pandemic baking projects). On the way, I stopped for to-go coffee, to support my favorite coffee shop. When I got home, I found a little package of homemade biscuits waiting for me. Another friend had swung by on her bike ride to share the love.
And from there, came #CyclingActsofKindness – a movement to encourage random acts of kindness by bike. In a world flooded with bad news, spreading kindness in our local communities is more important than ever. Whether it’s supporting a local business by riding to pick up carry out, putting in some time on your local trails, creating Strava art, riding to a local hospital with your kids to write messages to healthcare workers in chalk, or dropping cookies off for a friend, it all helps bring a bit of brightness into the world.
This summer, we invite you to hop on your bike and spread some kindness into the world and share it with others to show all the good that is happening on two wheels.
Claire Geiger is the Director of Partnerships at World Bicycle Relief. She spent 5 years managing the Grassroots Fundraising program and now works with corporate partners that support WBR. She believes that a bicycle is a tool of empowerment no matter where you live and that if everyone does a little, a lot of good can be accomplished.
World Bicycle Relief (WBR) builds and distributes specially-designed, locally-assembled bicycles to improve access to education, healthcare, and environmentally sustainable economic opportunities in developing regions of the world where distance is a challenge. Since 2006, WBR has distributed more than 500,000 bicycles to students, health service providers, farmers, and workers in 19 countries, with impressive results. Moreover, they invest in and partner with communities by training community-based bicycle mechanics to ensure ready access to maintenance service and their sustainable supply chain of spare parts.
