John Berger on the Bicycle

We're all very familiar with Pinch & Bijker's excursus on the "social construction of the bicycle." But what would a more phenomenological take on the bicycle be like? Here is what John Berger (who also writes about the photograph) has to say about his addiction to bicycling:

"Because you are on two wheels and not four, you are much closer to the ground. By closer I mean more intimate with. Take the surface of the road. You are conscious of all its possible variations, whether it offers a grip or is smooth, whether it's new or used, wet, damp or dry, where there's mud or gravel, where ruts are being worn - all the while you are aware of the hold of the tyres or their lack of it on the varying surfaces, and you drive accordingly.

Bends produce another intimate effect. If you enter one properly, it holds you in its arms, just as a hill points you to the sky and a descent receives you. And speed is of the essence. By this I do not necessarily mean the speed at which you are travelling. The reading on the speedometer is a small part of the story.

The fastness that counts most is that between decision and consequence, between an action and its effect - changing direction, braking or accelerating. Other vehicles may in fact react as quickly or more quickly than a motorbike, but a jet plane, a highly tuned car, a speedboat are not as physically close to your body, and none of them leaves your body so exposed. From this comes the sensation that the bike is responding as immediately as one of your own limbs - yet without your own physical energy being tapped. And this effortless immediacy bestows a sense of freedom."

The use of an old technology to restore a sense of immediacy that was destroyed by (slightly) newer technologies, like the car, the motorbike and the jet plane.

(For more about examples of some famous intellectuals' guilty pleasures, see this piece in the Guardian).