-
Posts
-
-
I was just reading about John Muir, a man I had not thought about since I was maybe 10 years old. I Only know about him because I am lucky enough to live close enough to his home in Martinez California ( a Historical site) which is loaded with information about the man and his many accomplishments.
Anyway, as I was searching amazon and trying to decide which of his books to read first, an add popped up for a bike light and it got me thinking….
What if John Muir had a Mountain bike? Would he approve of mountain bikes in the first place?
Me? Personally, I think he would have loved bike packing . His love for nature and his belief that nature was good for a man’s soul leads me to that conclusion. And I believe he is right about that.
” Keep close to natures heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and go climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your soul clean.”
I have to think that most, if not all of us have to agree with that sentiment. Mountain biking is good for the mind, body and soul.
What do you think?
P.s. in a related thought; Teddy Roosevelt would have been a DH guy for sure.
-
I agree, Muir totally would have been a mountain biker! Just think about how much more of the American west he could have explored and documented on two wheels (somehow he managed to make it all the way up to Alaska even without a bike.)
While he was certainly a preservationist, he seemed to want to create parks where people could actually visit and connect with nature. From the wikipedia,
He often encouraged city dwellers to experience nature for its spiritual nourishment.
So it seems likely he would want to make it easy and enjoyable for people to visit, not to limit access to only some of the city dwellers. But he would probably draw the line at motorized vehicles, unless they were silent and low impact of course. 🙂
-
That is a great point Jeff. He would have been a handy guy to have around for all of our access debates.
-
Probably would have approved the Tesla Model S and the SmartCar.. LOL 🙂
-
I’m not as familiar with Muir as I am with Edward Abbey.
In “Desert Solitaire” while describing his distaste for how tourists experience the wild places in our national parks, he said
“A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.”
It seems reasonable to think Muir would have had a similar attitude.
-
I am not familiar with Edward Abbey but I think I will be soon. I like that quote!
-
I’m not so sure about John Muir. American national parks etc owe their “undisturbed wilderness” attitude to him. In many other countries national parks are liberally sprinkled with huts, toilets etc that you don’t generally find in USA.
-
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.