The World is Small
September 8th, 2008
Let me tell you a story: Last Saturday I was feeling particularly melancholy because I knew I had to do a training run, but really had absolutely no desire or motivation to do so. I’m sure you know the feeling, it’s that “eeeeeh” apathy that comes when facing something unpleasant when there are far more interesting options available. Well, one thing lead to another and I decided to completely skip my run, but I made it a point to at least get a short bike ride in to my favorite coffee shop / office away from home. I’ve always wanted to scout out the 670 connector which supposedly connected to the Alum Creek bike path that’ll take me all the way to my favorite running/skating area down south. So I got all my stuff together, slung on my messenger bag with my laptop and hit the road.
This is where things get a little… uh… odd. See, I forgot to restart my Garmin at an intersection, so I never had a good idea of how far I was going. Instead I was simply listening to my body and how it felt about going that next mile, and before I knew it I’d not only passed the 670/Alum Creek intersection, I’d reached 3 Rivers Park.
My first thought? I didn’t know the Park was so close!
My second? Wait a sec, wasn’t that supposed to be 22 miles?
Urban Americans seem to have a mental barrier that prevents us from really understanding distance. Lets use flying as an example: Traveling from New York to Washington DC is perceptually no different than traveling from New York to Seattle. It might take a bit longer, but at no point do we ever have a full understanding of how fast or how far we’re going- we simply get into a large metal tube with small windows and in an hour or four we’re there.
This holds true for cars as well (though to a slightly lesser extent). Traveling in comfort, the only real difference between a day long roadtrip and a trip to the office is time and what we do at the destination. Distance is no longer an obstacle, and thus it has lost most of its meaning. Add to that such complex applications as Google Earth and Yahoo Maps and the concept of location is starting to blur within the digital space, creating no perceivable difference between here and anywhere.
This goes both ways: While we are no longer intimidated by long distances, short distances have gotten grouped into the mix. Even if the grocery store is only a mile away, we don’t think twice about getting in the car and driving because our sense of distance has become so compartmentalized. It’s almost like we live our lives in specific locations, with intermittent periods spent in travel capsules.
This is why I was so surprised at my biking experience, even though the insight had been knocking in my brain for a while now- Once you pursue traveling sports, your perception of distance rapidly aligns itself to reality, and surprise: The world is a lot smaller and more accessible than you thought. This builds on itself: After running 5 miles, 1 doesn’t seem that impressive anymore. After 20, 10 becomes a refreshing morning. Do that on a Bike and the world is your oyster. 30 miles? 40 miles? Whatever, that’s at best an hour and a half.
Or, in short: The world is small, and right there for the taking! Go out and Explore!
so, when you say, “Alum Creek” are you talking baout Lincoln Co. West Virginia?
Unfortunately not- I’m referring to a park here in Columbus, Ohio.