After the last 8 weeks of rain and less biking, a bike day, even a wet one is a good day. Recognising that cycling has both massive mental as well as physical benefits often leads to a Galibier towers statement, “Should you not go for a spin?” when things get tense.
So taking this beneficial biking as a statement, could we design a happier existence in the same way we are able to design a better life – the way you would design a jet engine or toilet roll holder?
Design Concept Thinking is a process which started in the 1950s, is divided into Empathise, Define, Idea, Prototype, and Test. This frame work can be steps to solve any list of problems. Designing for happiness may sound like an ambitious goal, yet focusing explicitly on our own wellbeing is not only desirable but also instrumental in creating more of this… happiness.
We are attracted to bike riding for health, fitness or friendships. We repeat in order to recreate past joy.
For a cyclist, happiness is rarely a single moment, but rather a holistic state of well-being achieved through the mental and environmental experience of riding a bicycle. If we are aware of the joy cycling offers and some of the past pain to be avoided, we can recreate moments of intense presence, physical accomplishment and avoid the moments of negativity and pain. Time spent on a bicycle is not perfection, it can be puncture infected and crashy, but a twisty downhill after a 40 minute climb and a view is as rock and roll as I need. Plan to experience the joy.
So design-in spins to seek freedom. Even if the landscape isn’t inspiring, exercise in the commute or on the turbo trainer can permit entry to a “state of flow” where the rider is fully immersed in the immediate experience, where pedalling becomes smooth and the effort in is less than the reward out.
Of course, if you seek happiness we are aware of unhappiness. The unfairness of existence can be cruel and difficult to overcome. Where the unhappiness is internally derived and not illness, a wise man once told me “ I think if you’re not satisfied with yourself, because in life, you have to set yourself fairly high standards., BUT you mustn’t put them out of reach, otherwise you’ll always be unhappy.” Make the whole ride possible by you choosing where the chequered flag is.
When unhappiness occurs from things in life outside our control, then a bicycle can provide the escape. The mental getaway from daily pressures, providing a sense of escape and solitude, even within a crowded urban environment.
Cycling is art. Design is thoughtful art – it creates joy and it binds us together.
The same wise man said “Basically, I’m an happy man, but I don’t mean to say that I’m happy all the time, I’m just happier by bike”.
