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To the editor:

Weather of the past week has raised my spirits significantly. Perhaps it is wrong to say this, after all it cannot be well that such heat comes in February, but I feel particularly blessed to have warmth come on the week of my birthday. I took full advantage of the fine weather and rode my bike vivaciously. To that end, I believe our attitudes about both the weather and bike riding are worth addressing and perhaps working to change.

February is nearing the end of winter but it certainly does not feel that way. I hate the cold. I am unsettled by the feeling of it boring through the layers of my clothes.

Conversely, I adore warmth and even intense heat. Breaking a sweat barely makes me, so to say, break a sweat. This is the “attitude” I wrote about before. This attitude can be pessimistic and it has taken away the joy I felt from snow days as a child.

I have found a method to combat this negative viewpoint and I would like to share it. This method is to view the weather and the conditions they bring as friends. Let me explain: the frigid gale of winter is the kind of friend who tells a dry joke when you first meet that you have to awkwardly say in response “Sorry, I didn’t get it”. Summer’s scorching heat is like a friend who goes to shake your hand at first meeting and then hugs you for a little too long. Both are true friends who lead to good times with you but both can be impersonable in unique ways.

Writing poetically of the weather is good fun but I fundamentally believe the best way to enjoy the weather is to ride a bike in it. In my experience, our town is lacking in easy and accessible ways to do this.

Besides Rich Park, with it’s steep hills and often occupied trails, where can people of any age ride bikes? With unclear or often outright unfriendly signage, the only places most adults can ride their bikes with a clear conscience is either on their own land or On empty roads.

Using this letter as both an artistic medium and as a public forum, I would like to suggest that Mocksville invest in bike lanes. These would increase foot traffic into areas such as downtown businesses, open more parking, increase safety for current road bike riders, and encourage more people to exercise and experience the weather themselves.

Andy Vernon

Mocksville