{"id":132145,"date":"2015-11-24T15:29:51","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/?p=132145"},"modified":"2017-03-29T17:17:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:17:11","slug":"why-are-there-no-cyclists-of-the-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/11\/24\/why-are-there-no-cyclists-of-the-apocalypse\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are There No Cyclists of the Apocalypse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are an estimated 1 billion bicycles worldwide and yet, when somebody drops the nuke or a zombie virus decimates the whole population, every single one of them magically disappears. In movies, bikes just don\u2019t seem to stick around when it comes to rebuilding a society. Why is that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I mean, does it make\u00a0sense to you that in a world, where there are almost no spare parts, mechanics or specialized tools, and the gasoline is available only at the lonely isles around the remaining human settlements with the access to a (probably heavily guarded) gas station, you would pick a Hummer as your primary means of transport? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n\n

Not only would the roads and cities be full of immobile wrecks, but at some point, someone would almost certainly kill you to put his hands on your working vehicle.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot:
\nScreenshot: The Stand<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

And even if everyone is friendly by some miracle, you can always end up in the middle of nowhere with a broken car or out of gas. That is the point where my imaginary hero just nonchalantly opens the trunk and sets off towards the horizon on his Brompton folding bike. But no, not in the movies. Bikes just almost never get even the smallest role. I\u2019m not saying they should be on the screen constantly, but it would be logical to see them at least sometimes.<\/p>\n

We need more tough guys on bicycles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I have to admit the headline of this article is (fortunately) not entirely true. I\u2019ve revised my initial premise short after I started my research on this topic. Cyclists are missing only in the part of the popular culture, which is focused on a visual perception (and also loaded with THE MONEY) \u2013 movies and TV shows.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Although there is\u00a0one big exception from the last years \u2013 in the World War Z starring Brad Pitt the soldiers are using bikes to escape a South Korean research facility. If you look more in the past, there are two more examples, which you can save for a rainy Sunday:<\/p>\n

Testament<\/strong><\/a> \u2013\u00a01983 Sci-Fi movie depicting a small city cut off from the world after a nuclear attack, where the bike plays a prominent role as a mean of transport.<\/p>\n

The Stand<\/strong><\/a> \u2013\u00a0post-apocalyptic movie based on a Stephen King\u2019s novel, where the plague kills most of the population. The \u201cgood guys\u201d are using bikes regularly.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot:
\nScreenshot: Testament<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

So what is the answer? Maybe bikes are just not cool enough for the post-apocalyptic blockbuster cinema. Maybe it\u2019s too idyllic to ride around on a bike and the action scenes look far better with cars. Or, and that may be even more significant, the cycling brands probably don\u2019t operate with the same kind of product placement money as the car manufacturers. Either way, there is a whole great world for the bike-loving, apocalypse adoring nerds out there \u2013 books.<\/p>\n

Literature: Where one bicycle tire is worth the whole car<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are books that feature the bike as a mainspring of the plot and they\u2019re really plenty to choose from. Jack Williamson\u2019s The Humanoids<\/em><\/a> features the hero riding around on a bike after the Robocalypse. Marauders in Dies the Fire<\/em><\/a> by S.M. Stirling terrorize people from the saddle of a bike. In one of the first-ever apocalyptic novels – Alas, Babylon<\/em><\/a> from Pat Frank \u2013 you\u2019ll find this quote: \u201cNow that gasoline is scarce, two bicycle tires are worth more than an expensive car.\u201d<\/p>\n

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James Howard Kunstler explains in his World Made By Hand<\/em><\/a>, why the bikes AREN\u2019T used (no rubber for tyres, bad roads) in his dystopian society destroyed by terrorism, epidemics, economic recession and global warming. Sounds familiar, right?<\/p>\n

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There is one special book that deserves to be mentioned, solely because its plot would make a perfect movie \u2013 Extinction point<\/em><\/a> from Paul Antony Jones. Why? It\u2019s got everything! A mysterious rain kills almost everyone on Earth and a New York reporter makes a contact with a bunch of scientist on Alaska. But because she never learned to drive, she decides to bike the whole way despite the fact that all kinds of alien forms will try to kill her on the road. It still seems easier for her than learning how to drive. Awesome!<\/p>\n

But there is more<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s always a very similar scheme \u2013 society in the ashes and a strict logic that dictates to choose the easiest solution possible \u2013 cycling. That\u2019s why I like those books so much and if you are like me, there are few more to choose from:<\/p>\n

The Girl Who Owned a City<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 a plague that spares only the kids under 13. And what do the kids do? That\u2019s right, they cycle!<\/p>\n

H10 N1<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 oh no, not the virus again! But now it\u2019s the Police who uses the bikes as a transport.<\/p>\n