A Bike Ride and Noise Pollution

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Yesterday afternoon I heard some very loud banging. I thought that it was due to an idiot driving a farming machine into something solid and they were trying to fix the damage. As it continued it made me furious. It’s for this reason that I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon on my bike.

When I rode by the absurd people making a huge amount of noise I saw that they were hammering at the bed of their flat bed truck. For some reason they were hitting it as hard as they could with hammers.

Hammering Induhviduals (intentional spelling)

The people at this barn are not mentally astute. They are very good at making huge amounts of noise, for hours at a time, without any consideration for the environment. In a village such behaviour is often the only source of noise pollution. That’s why I think little of them. Making noise is demonstrating apathy. Being quiet and considerate is empathetic.

Tyre Noises and Car Noises

Recently it was wet and rainy for days in a row. Before a walk I noticed the noise pollution from the motorway. When I went for a walk I noticed that the only sound I could hear was from car tyres, various motorvehicles and motorbikes. I couldn’t hear birds, or children playing, or people conversing, or any other noise. The only noise came from cars and their tyres.

It is during the pandemic, when there was no sound of cars, for weeks, or even months, that I realised that the background noise we are all used to hearing isn’t the sound of nature. It’s noise pollution from cars, that have become so integral to our lives that we no longer heard them, until lockdowns reduced traffic.

The Bicycle Ride

Due to the unbearable noise pollution made by the absurd behaviour of the two induhviduals it made sense to flee for a while. The weater was good. It was sunny and warm. Not to ride would have been a wasted opportunity.

Originally I thought that I should treat it as a rest day. I cycled up towards the Jura, before turning and heading into the vineyards between Luins and Rolle. Every so often I stopped and I took photos, and appreciated the view, before continuing.

Autumn colours are out, and I saw other people out on photo walks. The advantage of being on a photo bike ride is that you’re moving faster from vantage point to vantage point and you don’t need to worry about parking and walking back to your car. I suspect that cars I saw parked by some of the toblerones belong to people out on walks.

The Default

Most people would think, "I want to do A, I’ll take the car". In so doing they increase the need for roads, for parking spaces, and noise pollution from car engines, and car tyres. By taking the bike I can take the same roads as car but take a fraction of the space, and if I want to stop and take a photo I can, as conveniently as if I was walking or hiking, but with the flexibility of covering a bigger distance.

The drawback of course, is that you need a certain level of fitness for the freedom of a bike to be really beneficial. It’s when you cycle with "normal" people that you see how much of a struggle it is to ride as fast as others. That’s when you notice the progress you’ve made.

And Finally

Due to people deciding to clean a truck via the absurd medium of heavy hammer blows I was so disgusted by the absurdity of the noise pollution that I went for a healthy photo bike ride to escape the insanity and it worked. I was able to make it home at dusk a few minutes after the sun had set.