A mind for the bicycle
When PCs are no longer a "bicycle for the mind," what will we do with our newfound time?
Dear Friends,
I was 21 when I transferred from community college to a four-year university. At the time, I worked at a coffee shop 10 miles north of campus and was looking for a bike to trade the annoying freeway traffic for the stunning ride along the coast.
That winter, a new regular appeared at the coffee shop. He was tall and lanky with jean shorts, flip flops, and a big bush of dark, curly hair. He had a quiet intensity that I’d later come to associate with cyclists. His name was Alex Candelario, a pro cyclist for the Jelly Belly team, who had come to San Diego for his winter training.
Halfway into spring classes, I still hadn’t found a bike. I wanted a decent road bike, but the most I could afford was $1,000, which seemed like a fortune. One morning, Alex asked how tall I was.
— 5’11”
— Okay, I might have something for you. Are you gonna be here for the next hour?
He returned with a red and white Orbea Orca with shiny Campagnolo Record components — his team bike from the previous season. The bike was worth over $3,500, but he gave it to me for $800. He threw in his bright red cycling shoes and patiently taught me how to clip in and out without falling over.
That bike changed my life.1 I rode it everywhere for 17 years — while living in Oakland, Mexico City, Seattle, and San Francisco — until I finally sold it at the start of the pandemic when bikes were scarce and demand was high.
A bicycle for the mind
In 1990, a 35-year-old Steve Jobs was interviewed about the PC revolution.2 With his “reality distortion field” charisma, Jobs describes the personal computer as a “bicycle of the mind.”
Jobs references an article from the March, 1973 edition of Scientific American by S.S. Wilson, which describes how the modern bicycle laid the groundwork for the automobile and airplane. Wilson, an aviation enthusiast, was blown away by the energy efficiency of cyclists compared to other animals, or even a jet plane.3
For Jobs, the personal computer would make us more efficient at tasks of the mind: math, desktop publishing, project planning. And that’s how it felt: When I made my first website in 2003, it was as thrilling as riding my new Orbea Orca.
Two decades later, the thrill is gone. “The bicycle of the mind analogy fails apart with AI,” writes Eben Bayer, “which is more akin to building new minds.”
In 2001, it took me two years to learn web development and I charged clients around $5,000 for the two months I needed to build a website. Today, I could use Wix or any number of AI-based website builders to put together something better in less than an hour without any technical knowledge.4
A mind for the bicycle
What will we do with the time we save? You’ll find me on my bike, exploring scenic landscapes, meeting new people, and staying healthy.
My friend Sarah, another cyclist, has been visiting this week. We showed up at a local criterium race, where my teammate observed “cycling is a universal language.” It’s true, you show up anywhere and you’ll find a tribe of fellow cyclists.
If a friend complains of feeling stressed, or would like to get in better shape, or would like to meet new people, my advice is a broken record: Have you thought about joining a local cycling club?
Not everyone is wired like me. For some, riding a bike is exhausting; for others, it’s intimidating. For everyone, your butt hurts during the first few rides.
That doesn’t stop me from fantasizing that one day everyone will trade their cars for bikes —reducing pollution, heart disease, obesity, carbon emissions, and road rage. We would improve our mental health and sense of community, and redirect highway funds to bike paths and high-speed rail. It’s a nice fantasy.
Still, there are some encouraging signs. After decades of decline, more Americans and Europeans are riding bikes, and they are taking more trips. Cities are investing in cycling infrastructure thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.5
As for me, I'm considering organizing a "Oaxaca High Altitude Cycling Camp" for serious cyclists who want to stay fit over the winter while experiencing Oaxaca's sunshine, food, mountains, and culture.6
What will I find in 20 years? More cyclists per capita and fewer cars? Will Oaxaca be full of protected cycling lanes and bike paths? We’ll see.
Have a great week,
David
I remember thinking I didn’t need anything more in life than my new iPod and bicycle.
Here’s how Ivan Illich interpreted Wilson’s article:
Man on a bicycle can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man’s metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well.
Fortunately, I stopped making websites for a living back in 2006, but I assume a similar dynamic is coming for just about every field over the next decade. Ted Sarandos of Netflix disagrees, telling filmmakers: “A.I. is not going to take your job. The person who uses A.I. well might take your job.” We’ll see.
And advocacy groups like ITDP and PeopleForBikes help federal and local governments coordinate.
I imagine a worker-owned business with the guides, mechanic, and massage therapists with some equity in the company. I picture blissed-out American cyclists escaping the winter in the US and allocating 10% of profits to inclusive youth cycling development and bike infrastructure. It sounds nice in the abstract, but I’ll have to try one out (next January or February, TBC!) to see how it goes.
Love the idea of a “Oaxaca High Altitude Cycling Camp” except I also want one for amateur cyclists who want to explore Oaxaca on 2 wheels.
I always chirp on about how biking around NYC was the best way to explore the city - (1) for the efficiency and (2) to take photos along the way. Oaxaca is surely a different atmosphere but I would love to do the same. Maybe I just have to up my miles this summer and I’ll be ready by winter.
When young people get all nihilistic and misanthropic I just point out that our species invented the bicycle.