Cycling,routes,and embodied engagement with place

Abstract

This paper reflects on the role of cycling and routes in shaping engaged research praxis. Drawing on my own research commute along a bicycle trail from Madison to Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, I explore how cycling as embodied movement through space transforms not only the researcher’s sense of place but also her relationships with community, landscape, and scholarship. The paper presents guideposts for learning with this praxis: that the choice of route shapes the stories and engagement of the research, and that attending to the movement and route of the commute offers transformative possibilities for scholarly practice. I suggest how researchers commute matters and that cycling opens up new pathways for slower, more attentive, and more relational modes of engaged scholarship.