A Cyclist's Thanksgiving Message

I’m thankful I can ride a bike and that I can #choosethebike where I live and work.

I’m thankful that I can fix 90% of what’s wrong with my bike.

I’m thankful that when confronted with the other 10%, I know someone who does.

I’m thankful that if my bike is stolen, I have friends who will help me look.

I’m thankful I’ve never had to write a ‘Homeless-Please-Help’ sign on the side of a bridge abutment and pounded my fists in frustration when I forgot how.

I’m thankful for the drivers who wait for a chance to pass me and give me plenty of room when they do.

I’m thankful for cycling activists who fought for years to make bike lanes, slow speed limits, available bike parking and countless other things usually taken for granted. 

I’m thankful for a comfortable saddle, handgrips that don’t feel like rocks and bike gloves that don’t seem to magically shrink mid-ride.

I’m thankful for Good Karma Bikes in San Jose, Ohio City Bicycle Co-Op in Cleveland, BikePort Co-Op in Bridgeport and other bicycle based nonprofits that improve lives.

I’m thankful REI followed my lead and made a stand on Black Friday.

I’m thankful that no matter where I go in the world the bicycle knocks down language barriers.

    Delhi, India 2014

I’m thankful I can ride after Thanksgiving dinner and feel less guilty about the second slice of pie. 

I’m thankful for the plastic Yoda action figure that sits on my desk after traveling 3,000 miles on the dashboard of my Honda Element when my wife and I drove safely from Connecticut to California (I got my sister, who lives in New York, an identical figure for her birthday and she put it on her dashboard for her Thanksgiving travel. Today I’m doing the same thing. Yoda solidarity or #Yodadarity as we can’t be together this Thanksgiving.)

I’m thankful for all who are mindful of their neighbors on and off the road.

I'm thankful. 

Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.