Making Our Own Traditions
Spring is pregnant with enthusiasm for life. The season of fun and beauty gets warmer, green leaves return, and the world of birds and bees rejoices in long kisses from the sun. It has always been my favorite season of the year. This is the time for blooms, bikes, and backyard parties. Our family celebrated the first day of spring (Navroz) on March 21st with the enthusiasm others might have for Christmas. We are now deep into my preferred holiday season.
This year, spring is particularly packed with feelings. It has been almost one year since I was flung from my bike, during the last Atlanta Cycling Festival (ACF) edition of M+M. In the wheelchair weeks after that accident, I ached to participate in the outdoor joys of spring. With individual strength and the support of this amazing cycling community, I know that I have the love it takes to survive big transitions. Those months refreshed my dogged determination to celebrate life. This year, though, I am intent on doing more than surviving. This season, I feel especially grateful to be alive and am dedicated to thriving with joie de vivre.
I believe we can plant the seeds for our own happiness by creating our own traditions. Our cycling community has some great celebrations. Over the last year, there have also been many changes within the Atlanta cycling community. Nonetheless, we continue the traditions of broadening our horizons and sharing in the community. I, too, am intent to share my zest for life by contributing to the community with some chosen traditions. As my Burning Man sticker says: ̏Holy Shit! We’re Alive.̎ And since we are, I am happy for vigorous celebrations of this fact.
COMMUNITY TRADITIONS
Hallmark holidays like Mother’s & Father’s Day are coming up. Lately, more interesting to me is the plethora of community cycling opportunities. Last month, RAR and ACF had their annual introductory-level supported bike camping nights. It was on the ACF spring camping trip last year that I first rode the Silver Comet Trail. Through camping out, I met many other Atlanta area cyclists. These bike camping escapades are an exciting way to connect with the pillars of the community!
Of course, just a few days from now, on May 11th begins the highly anticipated week of ACF rides. I had been eager to join several other rides; the intercontinental cocktails ride was at the top of that list. This year’s event page shares the cutest tandem couple I know, the lovely Marissa and Joe! Next week, I hope to join them on a bike ride to a night of dancing!
Within our bike crew, we are beginning to create a tradition of birthday bike rides. Last year, Borith’s Bootleg Beltgrind Birthday Bash was one of my favorite cycling adventures. This year we again rode bikes and got a new batch of stickers to celebrate. (Also a sticker on my water bottle). Logan, the Mayor of Midweek Roll has also celebrated his birthday with a bike-based adventure party, two years in a row. Wednesday last week we had MWR’s 3rd year anniversary celebration. A few days later, some of us were surprised when MWR announced a change in their format. Logan & Jenn have done so much work to provide our community with a safe and volunteer-supported ride. Their community riding guidelines, vibe keeping, and route creating has been pivotal in creating social and safe rolls. I am still processing the news. A seasoned social rider reminded me, that all rides come to an end. Spring, then, offers us this reminder about change. Just as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, metamorphosis is also part of life.
CREATING NEW TRADITIONS
Thriving intentionally is creating and celebrating my own traditions. I learned this through my practice of the gratitude jar. I like to replicate moments when my heart feels full. One of my favorite ways to do that is to organize creative opportunities for cross-cultural pollination. This spring, I celebrated, so far, through two rides and one party.
Last month’s Indian food ride was the second iteration of sharing my heritage and love for Indian food. I had many helpers in leading the adventure. The first to help last year was Rashad, a cyclist hero in our midst. He led the return journey last year and gave me route support this year. While l love the comfort of some traditions, I am not a slave to the past. This year, instead of Gokul, we went to Honest. It was a much better choice (as Rashad presciently noted). Food came out with less chaos, with fewer errors, and we all got to sit at one giant group table. There was a nice blend of new and familiar faces and many shared dishes. In a sweet surprise, I ended the night with a Spanish karaoke at Estoria with the two Latinas who had joined the ride.
On April 19th, I held a 2nd annual celebration of Bicycle Day. It marks the day Dr. Hoffman discovered LSD’s power. This glorious artsy comic book illustrates the journey Dr. Hoffman took, and about his research along the way. . I wholeheartedly appreciate the work that MAPS is helping bring the power of psychedelics into therapeutic use. Many trip travelers enjoy the learning experience. For me, celebrating Bicycle Day is a reminder to cycle past our egoic horizons. Incidentally, April 19 is also the actual birthday of a local bike maverick and friend, Paulino.
In my home life, my version of cross-pollination is usually throwing a springtime house party. This year that annual celebration ended up being a housewarming. Over the course of months, I have been intentionally setting up a home of amazing roommates. On a recent Sunday afternoon, we strung together a group of diverse friends. Little do my roommates know, they are subject to a slow indoctrination into cycling.
POLITICAL TRADITION
Of all the things this spring, our version of the American Spring is the biggest beacon of hope. Finally, the American student tradition of protest is catching on at college campuses. I believed during the Trump years that any remaining moral conscience in the country died. However, the student uproar about American involvement in Gaza is a shift in conscience. These student are demanding that their dollars be divested from the murderous Israeli regime.
In Atlanta, a very brave group of students are standing up shake Emory. Alas, this progressive city is in Georgia. The police here have near impunity. During a raid on the peaceful encampments to Stop Cop City, Georgia State Police assassinated a peaceful protestor. Now, the police are throwing around Emory faculty. The suppression of civil liberties in the South is not new. The citizens movement to Stop Cop City is in legal limbo with the City of Atlanta. Beyond that, the State of Georgia is finding itself at the front-line of destroying the American birth rights of free assembly and freedom of speech.
Ultimately, I had a lot of time to ponder this question: For this country, can we have better hopes? A simple start, for example would be a national government that does not starve its public works at the expense of murder and occupation in Gaza. Arriving at that better place is the act of bringing imagination into action with intention. These students are reminding me that we only lack hope. We can create a world intent on thriving in life. We can move beyond just surviving. What changes would you like to see in your world to be? If you doubt that there is another way, read Less is More to grow your radical imagination.
