Written by Anna Jensen

One of the ways I love where I live is on two wheels! Biking has always been a natural and convenient way for me to get around, growing up and living in the Twin Cities. As a kid, my family and I biked through Minneapolis on summer weekends, heading to the Minneapolis Farmers Market and to Minnehaha Falls. Now, I still do all of that, but also use my bike as my primary mode of transportation. I’m lucky, I live in Saint Paul and can easily access numerous bike trails and bike lanes. Sure, it’s annoying to lug my groceries around in my bike basket, but all around, biking remains practical. However, most Minnesotans aren’t blessed with easy access to biking infrastructure and the closeness that makes biking a possibility. But even if we only biking for recreational purposes, it helps us connect with our shared natural places, and allowing us to feel and understand our place much better than if we were in our cars. As I continue this series about biking, it remains essential to understand the importance of biking regardless of when, why, or how often you’re able to do it.

Biking allows us to intimately see the places we live, work, and play. On our bikes, we shed the physical barrier of a car and we travel at slower speeds. In addition, bike trails are narrow and weave closely around trees, creeks, and lakes, granting us a closeness with the natural environment nearby, impossible in a car. My favorite bike ride to do in the fall takes me down to the banks of the Mississippi in Minneapolis, and I can park my bike against a log and stroll right over to the water. My bike is like the Goldilocks of transportation: it’s fast and I can get to the river in 10 minutes, as I would in a car, but once I’m there, I’m able to take trails right down to the water, like I could on foot.

When I’m heading to school in the mornings, I might prefer to hop in a car and be there in 3 minutes, skipping the annoyance of the liminal, chilly bike ride to school. But I choose my bike, and with those extra 5 minutes of my commute, I see neighbors waiting for the bus and walking their dogs and notice the leaves on the road crunching underneath my wheels. It is in these moments that ground me in my neighborhood, in the community of people and in the beauty around me.

This phenomenon has been academically studied as well, and the findings parallel those of my own anecdotal experience. If you’re interested in learning more about the association of biking and feeling a connection to place, check out this article from the journal Leisure Studies to read about interviews with people who got hooked on commuting by bike.

Article Citation: Rudy Dunlap, Jeff Rose, Sarah H. Standridge & Courtney L. Pruitt (2020): Experiences of urban cycling: emotional geographies of people and place, Leisure Studies, DOI: 10.1080/02614367.2020.1720787.

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