Ariella Cook-Shonkoff shares about her commute through San Francisco on her bike.
On my bike, I feel as free as a child. As I fly down the hill where we live, the cool San Francisco Bay winds jostle my cheeks. I dodge a handful of clucking wild turkeys, turn a hard left at a schoolyard filled with delighted shrieks and hum past a fragrant jasmine bush.
After about 45 minutes, in a delicious whoosh, I pull up in front of my office building and lock up my bike. If ever I’m ready to start my day as a therapist listening to people’s weary troubles, it’s then.
I’m not a diehard cyclist. I’m just a woman commuting 12 miles a day from her home to her office on an e-bike. The personal feeling of freedom I get from biking to work is infectious.
When my husband and I first got our electric bicycle during the pandemic, I wasn’t convinced it was for me. The cargo model with the rear seat was an elongated hunk of orange metal that weighed upwards of 80 pounds. Until one day — with the disturbing scent of wildfire smoke infusing the air — I drove to work in our gas-powered car, as usual. At a traffic light, I considered the inanity of my actions. Here I was, engine idling, spewing invisible CO2 out of my tailpipe, contributing to the very problem of climate change and wildfires even as that menace reared its head all around me.
The next day, I asked my husband for a 15-minute tutorial. Soon after, I had my first successful ride to work, and felt a palpable sense of relief from start to finish, arriving home in a ruddy-faced, happy bundle. As the daylight shortens now, I will soon switch back to driving until the Spring. I will miss my glorious rides – this raw feeling of aliveness coupled with human connection — more than words can say. With a Perspective, I’m Ariella Cook-Shonkoff.
Ariella Cook-Shonkoff is an eco-art-talk therapist in private practice in Berkeley and an author. She loves tea time with her family and visiting waterfalls.