Some Flat Tires
First, Biking is deeply dependent on urban planning. Different cities across space and time afford different tolerances towards cycling culture and spaces. For example, there is a pronounced urban bias in cycling (where commuting by bike is more accessible in more compact cities than in vast rural landscapes). With this, 'biking through the Anthropocene' is not evenly accessibly across geographies.
Second, there is also an equity issue to biking. More affluent neighborhoods benefit from greater investment in green spaces and cycling infrastructure. Despite biking itself having a relatively, low cost, it is entangled in broader patterns of social and economic inequality (Mingoya).
It is also necessary to recognize that biking, while less environmentally damaging than driving, still participates in the human-centered logic of the Anthropocene. Bike lanes, like all infrastructure, occupy space and alter ecosystems. Although their impact is smaller than that of highways, they nonetheless reflect human prioritization of movement over other forms of life. In this sense, biking does not fully escape the Anthropocene’s anthropocentrism.
There is also the chicken-or-the-egg aspect where people may not bike due to lack of appropriate infrastructure, while the infrastructure may not exist if there is no demand for it. In this way, city planners and city citizens are important players in the interdisciplinary approach that needs to be taken through the Anthropocene (Berney).
At the same time, my use of “hope” and “necessity” should not be understood as a simple binary. I do not aim to reproduce the fear-based narratives that frame the Anthropocene solely as an apocalyptic crisis, nor do I wish to present biking as an idealized or complete solution. Instead, biking exists in a more nuanced space: it is both a practical response to present conditions and a modest source of optimism for the future. Its value lies not in perfection, but in persistence.
This persistence is significant. While automobiles are often framed as symbols of innovation and progress—constantly evolving through new technologies—bikes have remained relatively unchanged over time. This stability can make them appear less “advanced,” yet it also highlights their enduring efficiency. In contrast to car culture, which is reinforced by dynamics such as Jevons Paradox (where increased efficiency leads to increased consumption), biking resists cycles of escalation and excess.
Biking may bring us closer to the environments we move through, but it does not fully dissolve the hierarchies that define the Anthropocene. Recognizing these “flat tires” is essential—not to dismiss biking as an alternative, but to understand its possibilities and limits more honestly.
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