THE BEST BIKE IS ONE THAT BRINGS YOU JOY

PICKING MY LINE DOWN THE STEEP, RUTTED double-track took more concentration than I expected, as the quickly setting pale November sun created a magical scene on a day that kept getting better.

- Marley Blonsky

I had just finished the Women's Single Speed Cyclocross World Championship in Durango, Colorado. The race found me launching my bike (and my body) down a giant airbag slide, riding through a steel ring of fire, and struggling to breathe for a solid hour.

I hadn't planned on riding the whole race, let alone leading a group ride back down this rowdy jeep road back to town. Barely two months post-knee surgery, I planned to do a lap to check out the fun and call it good. But as I completed lap after lap, I couldn't stop. It was just too much fun.

While I was sore afterward, I left Durango with no lasting injuries. More importantly, I came away with a stronger conviction that joy is the revolution we need. And bicycles have the power to bring that joy.

I discovered bicycles when I desperately needed positivity in my life. A recent soul-destroying divorce and a daily, 45-minute, three-mile bus commute to and from work was a recipe for disaster. Watching out the bus window, I saw people of all shapes and sizes zipping past on two wheels, seemingly free to go wherever their legs could carry them. I wanted to be one of them.