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WEST VALLEY CITY — How often do you find you know little about your neighbors? It seems easier now in this digital age, where connecting digitally is effortless and it's seemingly harder to communicate face to face.
That’s essentially what Sara Harding had on her mind toward the end of May as the schools were letting out for the summer. The West Valley City mother of seven — mostly teenagers — wanted to challenge her children and herself to spend less time on their phones and to make more personal connections. For her part, Harding pulled out the silver tandem bicycle she had received for Christmas a few years back and went for a spin.
She figured if she went for a ride once a week with someone, maybe she'd make a connection with that person. That’s where something magical happened. When she took one of her children out for a ride for the maiden trip of the year, they came across a man in his 70s in their neighborhood. She started chatting and — although he was hesitant at first because he hadn't ridden a bike in years — she eventually convinced him to join her on a ride around the neighborhood.
“He had so much fun and it was a blast,” Harding recalled.
Soon one bike ride turned into one more and then another and another. She told friends and family about her plan and invited them to join her. Shayla Stone, of West Valley City, and Harding’s sister, went on one of these early rides. Stone wasn’t sold on it immediately but agreed to go on a 45-minute ride around West Valley City.
“She finally talked me into it and I finally went on a ride. It was … really fun. We went and rode; we found a little dog that was lost and found his owners, and then went and got a Slurpee,” Stone recalled.
Harding didn’t stop with friends and family. She came across neighbors and even strangers — literally people of all ages — along the way who joined her for quick rides. She’s had a few rejections, but she said most people seem excited to join her.
After their ride ends, they often pose for photos with Harding and she posts them on social media. Soon the hashtag “#projectbiyclebuiltfortwo” was born.
“I’ve learned more about my neighbors probably in the last three weeks than I have the whole 11 years I have lived here,” she said of the experience.
As for others she has met: “They’re not strangers anymore; now they’re my friends.”
She’s even had people who have gone on bike rides ask to go on future trips.
Even in the first few weeks, Harding has already expanded her operations. She’s taken her bike with her to ride with one of her children’s teachers in Sandy, with friends in Bountiful. She took it with her on a trip to Manga and to the Great Salt Lake. She brought it out again to Mount Pleasant in Sanpete County on Thursday.
What started as a weekly goal has already turned into more than 100 bike rides in a month and no end in sight. Harding is eager to meet new people and make new friends.
Stone isn’t terribly surprised by it. She says her sister has always been outgoing, caring and free-spirited. In fact, she believes a T-shirt Harding owns with “Choose Joy” printed on it describes her the best.
“As early as I can remember, she has just been fun,” Stone said. “She draws people to her. She loves being around people. When she started doing all of this, she was like ‘you know, I want to just choose joy and there are two things that make me happy: my bike and people, so I’m going to spread the joy.’”
We can really learn a lot from each other if we just take the opportunity.
–West Valley City resident Sara Harding
Harding said she now could see herself doing it not just for the rest of this summer, but as much as she can for as long as she’s able to ride a bike. Her goal is to meet as many people as she can and make everyone she meets a little happier than they were before a bike ride.
“Everybody has a story. Everybody has a trial; everybody has something great they’re going through or something hard they’re going through. When you give yourself 10 to 20 minutes to just chat with people, you learn a lot about them and how cool they are. I think that’s been the funnest thing,” she said. “We can really learn a lot from each other if we just take the opportunity.”
