Katrina and The Waves had it right.
Walking feels good.
So does riding a bike.
And, God willing, so does skate-, long- or some other kind of boarding hipper than my fragile little mind can comprehend.
Gordon, who lives in District 3's Canyon Rim, had his car "blow up" a year ago. (A quick, irrational flash to images of Myth Busters'Adam and Jamie being behind all this.) Car kaput, he now walks to work, uses TRAX, and occasionally borrows a friend's car on the weekends.
Warren, also on foot, listens to my campaign, really liking the part about economic development. He then says he works in economic development, too. "For Salt Lake City? For USTAR? For whom?" I ask. Grinning and eyes like Santa Claus, he says, "For that institution over there" (pointing to the LDS Church Office Building!).
Those are people I met at the intersection of State and North Temple/2nd Avenue. A few days prior, while working The Ave's, I chatted up Craig. Craig walks to his high-tech job everyday from 5th Avenue: An 80-minute, round-trip commitment that, on the backside, is quite often followed by more work--a seven-year home renovation still in progress. On the working front, he notes one of The Avenues' own "celebrity cycle-commuters"--Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, whom he says he just spotted within the week.
Angelika and Gernot are among the funniest, wittiest folks I have met on the campaign trail to winning the Salt Lake City District 3 City Council seat. Both are German. Both are very ped- and velo-friendly. Unlike what you may think, the two did not meet in Germany, but had to travel 5,000+ miles (8,000+ km for smart folks) to find each other in Utah. I ask if they engaged a Germans-only dating service, then, later wonder if they connected through a Non-Car-Driving Meetup, but, no--theirs is one of those uber-romantic, gazing-across-the-room scenarios.
Sigh...
Angelika is celebrating her 25th year here in SLC, with Gernot, the guy, appropriately, a few years behind. "We have arranged our lives to where we don't use cars," he notes. Gernot, who works at The U, rides his bike in summer and walks in winter.
Pan back to the corner of State and North Temple/2nd Avenue...
I am surprised to encounter my neighbor Matt, who hails from the Upper Avenues (just a few blocks, as the crow flies, from the former Karl Malone McMansion). Matt, unbeknownst to me, apparently rides his bike to work. (His long-term business, PetStop Veterinary Service, is located at 44 North 800 West.) Having ridden most of that upward climb by both tandem and solo, I now have added respect for the man's near-daily climb.
Craig? Immediate respect. Craig bikes into downtown from Bountiful. "It's only 11 miles!" he says, cheerily.
Only 11 miles... Craig, the slacker that he is, does admit that there are times when he uses FrontRunner. I feel less self-conscious instantly.
Cool interactions with eco-guys on bikes. Gavin spins my way from The Ave's. He works for Round River Conservation Strategies, a group that is dedicated to devising strategies to preserve wild spaces http://www.roundriver.org/. He hangs a remarkably long time with me, talking issues and telling me about Round River.
Also generous with time and interest is cyclist David. We converse for a very long while, and only as he is leaving does the name of his employer drop: SUWA. I enjoy visiting the SUWA-site to see his smiling face, with the other, inspired, eco-passionate crew @ http://www.suwa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_staff. I want him on-board with Team JJJ.
I also want on-board a guy I have long-admired from afar: The businessman-unicyclist (I fancy him to be an attorney) whom I see "uni" down B Street with, as they say, the greatest of ease. I only know two people who uni: Miles, an Upper Aves-residing friend of my 16-YO son, Jamison, and Nick, an 18-YO guy from out-of-neighborhood. The businessman Uni-guy? He is probably 50-something. Quite a different demographic than the Generation-Whatevers. Riding a unicycle in a business suit? I want him on-board with Team JJJ.
On board...
Literally, now, on board.
As I am readying to pack it up for the morning, I see, from the top of State Street, a lone boarder ease his way down the hill. Cars remarkably elsewhere, the run is a beautiful slalom. I give him the thumbs-up at the bottom. Me, he gives a stare. His look is reminiscent of Mick Hucknall, lead of "80's band "Simply Red." He glides across the street, at the crosswalk, turning to look back and make some friendly eye contact--not too much outward show of appreciation; just enough.
"I used to think maybe you loved me--
Now baby I'm sure
And I just can't wait till the day
When you knock on my door."
Unlike Gernot and Angelika's "come hither" at a coffee shop, we are not going to have a bike luring us out, or a pair of Dr. Seuss's "Pale Green Pants with no one in 'em" encouraging us to go out for a walk, or a board wag its backside and beg for a trip out-of-doors.
But, just listening to that joyous Katrina... "Don't it feel good?"
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