"Bicycle Love" Response

The travel essay “Bicycle Love” follows its author, Brianne Goodspeed, through her one-woman bicycle expedition across the French countryside. The author gives background into her uncertainty following her college graduation, using this as a springboard for the story’s theme: traveling alone is an experience of self-discovery. The very motivation for her journey is the first sign of this purpose. She states, “I didn’t see this as a vacation so much as a trial” (Goodspeed 141). The personal growth shown by the end of the piece is further evidence to the theme. She goes from, “In fact, I’m terrified” (Goodspeed 142), to, “The terror had burned off, like calories” (Goodspeed 147). Goodspeed adds authenticity to her piece by including French speech such as, “Tu es francophile” (Goodspeed 147). She also utilizes personification to exemplify the deep connection she shares with her bike: “The bike and I were a team” (Goodspeed 145).