Two wheels change the world

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I regain hope in the future of the human race.” H. G. Wells

Living by bicycle is not easy. And in cities it seems even more difficult. However, the bicycle is a great symbol of freedom and joy. When we see a very small girl, just a few years old, pedaling with all her energy and carelessness, our face immediately lights up with happiness, and why not, with hope in another possible world. The great French sociologist Marc Augé, author of the work Praise of the bicycle (Gedisa), perfectly underlines these feelings: “The bicycle is part of the history of each of us. The moment when we learn to ride a bicycle belongs to a special moment in the memories of childhood and adolescence. “This way we discover a little about our body, our physical capabilities, and we experience the freedom associated with these discoveries.”

The bicycle, whose World Day is celebrated this Monday, June 3, has recently reached the venerable age of 200 years, since Baron von Dreis invented in 1817 the first prototype of a two-wheeled vehicle, known as a draisian, powered by the leg movement. From that moment, from the beginning, two wheels have become an example of modernity that exalted the values ​​of progress. And also of emancipation: Suffragiststhe women (and some men) who fought for the right to vote, used bicycles to get around and numerous demonstrations.

An iconic image that persists in the collective memory. Susan B. Anthony, pioneering feminist and suffragist, said: “I believe the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I’m happy every time I see a woman on a bicycle. She gives the feeling of autonomy and independence and the moment she takes her seat and leaves, she is the image of unhindered femininity.”

And this is precisely the function that these two wheels have fulfilled throughout two centuries of history: a very simple, practically unchanged mechanism, which was nevertheless a powerful evocative force in all areas of life. The bicycle was used by workers to go to the factory (in the first film in history, filmed by the Lumière brothers, cyclists are seen leaving work); To go to work the land and rice fields, the bike was irreplaceable; The partisans of the Second World War traveled dozens and dozens of kilometers by bicycle to deliver their important messages. With the bicycle, the pioneer athlete Alfonsina Strada stamped her name in history, competing against men in the Giro d’Italia at the dawn of the 20th century.

The bicycle has inspired all artistic forms, with its great power to make us dream of other possible worlds. Going by bike, therefore, is not just about doing the classic weekend route. The bicycle represents a great tool for social transformation, a gear that triggers transcendental changes that define the future of a place and a society. In Holland they know it well: in the early 1970s Dutch cities were full of cars, the air was unbreathable and deaths from traffic accidents were rampant, with many children involved; The oil crisis did the rest. This is how the movement was born Kindermoord stop (“Let’s stop the massacre of children”) that demanded urgent measures to reduce cars and facilitate bicycle mobility; and the Netherlands changed forever, as we know.

In my city, Valencia, which has its roots more than two centuries ago in the history of the Roman Empire, the bicycle has always been present in the physical and emotional landscape of its people. But, like many other post-war societies, it had been abandoned in the basement, a bit like everywhere else after the Second World War, when the great development of widespread motorization began, with more and more cars and, therefore, more asphalt, roads, ring roads and highways.

Bike lanes with extraordinary results

After decades in which only a few brave (and visionary) cyclists have kept the flag of cycling high with actions such as the Critical Mass, veteran throughout Spain, in recent years things are changing, with a simple recipe: build a protected and connected network of cycle paths. Since 2015, in nine years, we have built 75 kilometers of bike lanes, 60% more to have about 200 kilometers for the entire city, with extraordinary results: use has tripled, significantly increasing the percentage of women and children on bicycles per year. the entire city, and there are practically no more traffic accidents with cyclists. Cars have decreased by 10% and València has become the Mediterranean city where bicycles are used the most, and this year we are European Green Capital.

The bicycle is an extraordinary tool for the transformation of cities: when everything seems to fall apart, when there is an energy crisis, a pandemic or climate change, there is the bicycle ready to save us from the most difficult situation. In these times when we talk a lot, perhaps too much, about smart city, perhaps we should talk about smart cities and smart citizens, who choose which side of history to be on in this stormy 21st century. As many have done in these two centuries in which this perfect means of transportation has been the protagonist of many social advances, two wheels that change the world.

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