May 16, 2002
Cycle for the fun of it, prof says
Steve Hill
University Week
He’s logged more than 60,000 miles while commuting to and from the UW campus during the last 30 years. His e-mail signature is a series of dashes and dots that together form an abstract bicycle. And you’re just as likely to find him in his office wearing bright-colored cycling clothes as you are traditional professorial garb.
But don’t get the wrong idea about Halstead Harrison.
“I try not to define myself as a bicyclist. I’m a husband, a father, a scholar and lots of other things,” the emeritus associate professor of atmospheric sciences said recently. “I hope my obituary doesn’t read, Halstead Harrison, (age), shared his love for bicycling…”
Despite the miles he’s logged through the years, Harrison scoffs at the suggestion he’s a committed bicycle commuter. When it rains, when it’s cold, he prefers to drive. He’s not idealistic about cycling. His motivation is simpler, more basic.
“I’m not doing this for social good,” he said. “I do it because it’s fun.”
As the UW gears up for the annual Bike to Work Day on Friday, Harrison could be one of the Transportation Office’s poster boys. And while there are many reasons to pick an alternate means of commuting to the campus, Harrison’s advice is don’t bicycle — unless you’re having fun.
Harrison took a job at the University more than 30 years ago and immediately knew that he’d be able to rekindle a fondness for cycling that began while growing up in Coronado, Calif.
“I biked as a kid and I loved the freedom,” he recalled. “It allowed a safe horizon for a kid to grow. Suddenly my world was bigger.”
Now, Harrison says, professional circumstances make it easier for him than others to bike to work. His previous job, for example, required adhering to a more formal dress code. Working on campus usually eliminates that concern. But he thinks there’s more to it than that.
Perhaps because he’s a scientist — Harrison continues to publish papers about meteorological issues including the climate-warming controversy — he can’t help but notice a trend and wondering if there’s an explanation lying in the depths of our endocrine system.
Participating in the “Chilly-Hilly” ride a few years ago on Bainbridge Island was a lot like looking in a mirror, he said. After parking his bike he walked to an area where other cyclists in the event were gathered.
“I just broke out laughing,” he recalled. “Within 30 feet of me there were about 50 guys who looked just like me — relatively skinny, salt and pepper beards, wearing gawky clothes. So I guess it’s fashionable.”
He theorizes that men about the age of 40 have a hormonal shift that can lead to increased exercise.
“This is very common among men who were not high school jocks, but find out about middle age that they can bicycle. About that time, I’m speculating, something happens to one’s endocrine balance.”
Whether his hypothesis has merit or not is, perhaps, a matter of debate. What’s certain is the social influence within his department can’t hurt.
Atmospheric Sciences is full of what he calls professor jocks, including Qiang Fu, Cliff Mass, Robert Brown, Dennis Hartmann and Frank Badgley, who, like Harrison, are cyclists. Other faculty and staff in the department are tennis players, swimmers and runners. And virtually all of the students are cyclists of one level or another, he says.
But the department’s love of cycling has led to tough times in the past. There was one year, for example, when faculty in the unit suffered a total of three broken collarbones and one broken rib in cycling accidents. Harrison was one of the unlucky ones.
His explanation for the unfortunate happenings gets right back to that hypothesis: “middle-aged professors are all pretending to be younger than we are.”
About this time each year, Bike to Work Day sponsors ask people throughout the Puget Sound to consider cycling as a means of getting to work. This year, they’re asking for that and about 29 other things.
For the first time the Cascade Bicycle Club’s Bike to Work Day has been expanded to include an entire month. Organizers are encouraging cyclists to bike to work on Friday — the day of the event — and to keep on riding through June 30 as part of the 2002 June Bicycle Commute Challenge. That’s a total of 30 workdays.
“A one-day event is great to get people jazzed about biking,” said Lisa Quinn, a public information specialist in Transportation Services. “But the idea behind the June challenge is to have more people bicycling to campus more often. We want to keep the momentum going.”
Those who accept the challenge and complete at least eight round trips will be eligible for prizes, including bike tune-ups, cycling gear, museum tickets, Amtrak tickets and gift certificates. Those who bike more often will improve their odds of riding away with a prize.
Allen Beard, an officer with the UW Police Department and avid cyclist, plans to participate. He commutes from Queen Anne to campus virtually every day.
“First and foremost, I enjoy riding my bike,” Beard said, explaining his motivation for cycling. “It’s a good way to get exercise and a good way to unwind at the end of the day. You don’t have to fight for parking, which is a real plus because parking around here is a real pain. And there’s also the environmental benefit. It’s one less car on the road, less gas, less pollution.”
Quinn said about 400 cyclists were actively recruited to participate in the first-time event. To enter the challenge, sign up at one of the 36 Bike to Work Day stations that will be set up throughout the Puget Sound on Friday from 6 to 9 a.m. or download an entry form at www.biketoworkday.JuneChallenge.pdf. For more information, contact Quinn at 206-616-2051 or by e-mail at lquinn@u.washington.edu.
