An Audience of One

WE Bike NYC is organizing ten women from five organizations to ride 262 miles on bicycles from New York City to Washington, DC to represent their communities at the nation’s largest annual bicycle advocacy event, the National Bike Summit on March 3, 2014. WE are so pleased to be supported by WomanTours, Bicycle Times Magazine and Transportation Alternatives. For more about the ride, check out our fundraising page HERE!

Now that you have gotten to know who we are, learn more about us and our process. WE will be rolling out a series of guest posts from our riders and sponsors. 

Casey Ashenhurst is back, talking about what you talk about on long solitary rides…

Cycling is both a social activity and a solo adventure for me, depending on what I’m doing. When I’m biking by myself, there will be times when I talk to myself—give myself pep talks, sing to myself, just to keep myself occupied when the going gets tough, or the road is long, or the surroundings are boring. I’m a very social and verbal person, so it doesn’t strike me as particularly odd that I like to express things in an auditory way while riding, even if there’s no one else around. I don’t feel weird about anyone hearing me; because I’m on a bike, even if they do I’ll be long gone so who cares! However, if you were a bird perched on my shoulder while I was riding, here are some things you might hear, besides the occasional yell at a car:

1. “I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m so glad I’m alive,” in a singsong voice after a particularly hairy encounter with traffic. It’s a good luck charm. 2. “When I’m Gone,” the song, sung panting and out of breath when I’m trying to go really fast up a hill. 3. Me using a sportscaster’s voice to narrate my commute in the third person like I’m in a race—I always win. 4. A re-enactment of the Al Pacino’s halftime speech in Any Given Sunday, when I feel like I just don’t know if I can go anymore- and then I grab that inch and I do! 5. Humming “We Are the Champions” when I’m coming up to my destination and I’ve made good time.