"the immortal class"

Here is a paragraph taken from Travis Culley's book The Immortal Class which I read a few years ago and this morning decided to revisit. I remember liking it the first time around, I don't think I was blogging at the time, and I am not a messenger myself, but the way he mixes words to create great imagery speaks to me. I will get to the paragraph here, it speaks to me because it puts to words better than I can at this time my feelings about the bike, about what the bike represents in our society here and now. A little background, he is speaking about drivers, and the rest of the masses and how the bike is scene and then he gets to this paragraph. So without further ado:

"What these people don't know is that the bicycle is more than a sport and more than a job. The bicycle is a revolution, an assault on civilian territory, intent upon taking, from the ground up, responsibility for the shape of our cities. It is a mutiny, challenging the ever-one-way street. The bicycle is a philosophy, a way of life, and I an using it like a hammerto change the world and to redeem our war-torn cities."

Is that not great. Thank you travis for putting it so well. Like I said I am not a messenger, but I don't own a car at this point in time, so my bike is my transport, and I get to experience some of what it must be like in the urban jungle of Seattle. Seattle is touted as a green city as bike friendly, and it is alright, but it lacks vision and a plan to make it better, to get some flow in it, right now it is a bit disjointed. Thanks to people like Kent Peterson and others at the bike alliance, the Cascade Bike Club things are getting done, but we Americans are so tied to the belief that we need a car, we are entitled to have bigger, more. A car is a symbol of your status, it really says who you are. Right. If you are riding a bike it is either cause you are poor, or you lost your license, not because you are choosing to, it must be for something out of your control. That I think is the common belief among most people, no in ten years when gas is really, really expensive, bikes will be the answer. They already are the answer in my opinion we are a fat, lazy society bent on doing things faster and faster. What would/could change all that..........You guessed it the bike. The bike a simple invention. Most trips are a couple miles, bike. Want to lose weight, bike. Want to feel intimately connected to your environment and meet some people, bike. It is that simple, think of all the extra space we would have if more of us biked. Want to save money, ride a bike. So lets change the world one revolution at a time. Bike.

As always keep pedaling. Nat