Splendid Stockholm Abba, Roxette, Ace of Base,
Stockholm · Gamla Stan · Self-Powered Traffic
Answer the CallABSolution
A Bike and a Prayer—burning carbohydrates instead of hydrocarbons through Stockholm’s old city.
Stockholm Field Archive
Old City, Cold Water
Biking past the old city, Gamla Stan. No Ice Bar this time, but I roasted myself in a sauna and then plunged directly into freezing cold water. Mamma Mia—shipwrecked!
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life. —ABBA
The GR8est Incident
The bicycle was the GR8est incident of the nineteenth century—the most influential piece of product design ever and the most civilized conveyance around.
It is not brain surgery; it is rocket science. The advantages of modern self-powered traffic are obvious and ignored. Screw BP—British Polluters. I am my own engine, converting calories into gas. My bike gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon, with no parking problems.
The Asymmetric Ride
Less Friction + More Momentum = FreedomWhy waste your life in friction—cars—when it could be turned into momentum—bikes? Burning carbohydrates instead of hydrocarbons today. As long as I am riding a bike, I know I am the luckiest guy in the world.
Don’t buy upgrades. Ride up grades.
Field Note · SUVLUV
The Stone Age of Bigness
SUVLUV is so Stone Age, so pre-September 11. One seldom exchanges anything but “the finger” or insurance-company names with another driver. Cars inhibit human connection.
There is an excuse to be made for driving a 4x4. It can be summed up in three words: “This is America.” Make it big. The love of bigness—houses, breasts, meals, or vehicles—the magic of thinking big is as American as apple pie.
The Metal Cowboys · Fooled by Randomness
Rideable Art
Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world. It is anarchy without malice. It gets you there and more. There is always the thin edge of danger to keep you alert and comfortably apprehensive.
It is not so much a way of getting somewhere as it is a backdrop for randomness; it makes every trip an unorganized tour. Life is too random to be left up to chance.
The Cycle
Work to Eat · Eat to Live · Live to Bike · Bike to WorkWhen I ride a bike, I no longer despise the human race. I still must use the rules of the road, the rules of biking, and Einstein’s gravity. But I am mentally far away from “civilization.” The world is breaking someone else’s heart.
Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. —John F. Kennedy
Three Source Stories