Sometimes it’s the little things

Jimmy Carter became president when I was in 10th grade. I didn’t know much about him beyond his southern accent and that he was a peanut farmer from Georgia. Having never been to Georgia or anywhere in the south, Jimmy Carter seemed pretty foreign to me in Utah and then Minnesota.

I gradually paid greater attention to the world and also started paying for my own gasoline. I knew about high inflation, high gas prices, and I remember watching the infamous “Malaise Speech” in which President Carter implored us to wear sweaters and drive more slowly to save gas.

My parents were liberal democrats and generally liked Carter, so I had a built-in propensity to like him as well. But something else changed in me just after graduating from high school. I started to want to ride my bicycle much more than to drive a car. I wasn’t just the gas prices and the fact that I realized that cars cost a lot of money to buy and maintain. I also realized how dirty and dangerous they were. I also loved riding my bike.

Right around this time in my life, Tim Hixon—one of my best friends from hockey—was killed by a drunk driver. In addition to many things that rowdy, teenage, hockey playing boys do (let your imagination run wild…), Tim and I also took an overnight bicycle trip from SLC to Orem, up Provo Canyon, to Heber City. We had no idea what we were doing, but we loved it. The stretch between Heber City and SLC was all interstate highway, so we got one of our parents to pick us up.

So when I heard Jimmy Carter tell us that we should drive 55 mph on the highway, I was overjoyed. I was in the minority, because most people hated that. I became a real Jimmy Carter fan, and I voted for him in my first presidential election.

There were many other things on voters minds in 1980, and the majority of the country voted for Ronald Reagan. It stung just a little bit that my preferred candidate lost.

I kept on biking, and in the 45 years since Jimmy Carter was defeated, I’ve never had a car parking pass for work or school. I think I owe at least some of this to Jimmy Carter and his Malaise speech.

But it isn’t always easy. Cars have gotten bigger, faster, and more numerous than they were in 1980. Ever since moving to Athens GA for my job, I have complained to whoever would listen about vanishing bicycle lanes, no bicycle lanes, and traffic that is too fast for safety. Many people tell me that they would love to ride their bike to work, but they are afraid of the traffic, so they continue to drive, causing a negative feedback loop that always gets worse.

Recently, some of my complaints have led to progress. Our city is adding a multi-use path (shared by pedestrians and bicyclists) along a busy road where I work. An intersection that was very dangerous and difficult to cross on bike or foot got some simple redesigns that makes it much safer. And a stretch of road that goes through a very busy part of campus was a ridiculous 45 mph with 2 lanes of traffic both directions. I complained about that to the University, the city, and the state for the past 5+ years.

I woke up the day after the 2024 presidential election to discover that, like Jimmy Carter, my candidate lost. It stung even more this time than in 1980, but this was democracy at work. However, when I rode my bicycle to work that day, I noticed for the first time that the 45 mph has been replaced by 35 mph! It took 5+ years and many emails and phone calls, but it finally happened. Local politics and small changes can make a very big impact on our lives. I think this lesson also comes from Jimmy Carter with his selfless dedication to making the world a better place, often one nail at a time.

Thank you, President Carter, for everything you did for me and the world. You will be missed.