—where the wheel once worked alongside animals like horses or oxen
Even though connected to animals, the carriages that these animals pull were also designed by humans to transport humans, so maybe they aren't as different as modern forms of transport as we might think?
A bike, by contrast, might rust quietly into the landscape, its frame overtaken by vines, its wheels slowly stilled by time. Then maybe a bird might perch on its handlebars, or fish might swim through its sunken frame...
I can also better imagine a bike reabsorbing back into nature than a car, but isn't it still a man-made creation made of unnatural materials?
But what happens when we imagine a world without humans?
This page--with your discussion of the Guinness ad and Neruda's work--presents a really creative thought process. I like that you in this effort aligned with posthumanism removed the human from your interpretation of biking, thereby challenging the anthropocentrism of the Anthropocene.
A man without a fish is like a woman without a bicycle?At the end of the day (or the world?) everyone just wants to ride a bicycle :) - Tess Ertel 2026
I really like that you included a quote of your own ;)
It is important to note some of the limitations of Biking as the one true and entire solution to the Grand Narrative.
The fact that you included this section really nuances and strengthens your user guide overall :)
This stability can make them appear less “advanced,” yet it also highlights their enduring efficiency.
I also like this perspective! I feel like this challenges the Phronocene which discusses how conspicuous consumption, etc. motivate humans to always by the next nicest upgraded thing: in this way, bikes challenge a dominant narrative simply with their physicality.
It is also necessary to recognize that biking, while less environmentally damaging than driving, still participates in the human-centered logic of the Anthropocene.
This is an important note! I feel like I am often prone to appreciate human eco-activism as just that, eco-activism, but I overlook the anthropocentrism of this logic. This makes me think of my project and the community garden I was looking at, for example, and how while such spaces (such as the practice of biking) represent productive efforts towards sustainability, they also herald humans as ecological heroes and contribute to narratives of human domination and control over nature.