The Awakening of Mr. Hoopdriver

The title here comes from a chapter heading in Herbert Georges Wells comic novel The Wheels of Chance, first published in 1896 at the height of a cycling craze in Britain and America, when practical, comfortable bicycles first became widely and cheaply available. Dissapointingly, the 'awakening' in question does not refer to the main protagonist's enlightenment aided and abetted by the riding of his bicycle but simply to his getting out of bed.

At any rate, whilst browsing the shelves for Wells' book I came across another (oh the joys of browsing!) - The Utopian Vision of H.G. Wells by Justin E. A. Busch. In it, I came across this:

If we are to avoid desuetude or extinction, we had better do the work ourselves... there is little to believe that the workings of nature have been suspended for the benefit of humanity [...] the Modern Utopia must not be static but kinetic, must shape not as a permanent state but as a hopeful stage leading to a long ascent of stages. In a teleological utopia, someone comes along ans sets it up for the inhabitants; in a evolutionary utopia each inhabitant is responsible for her or his own place or involvement.

So there we have it. The beauty of bicycling: doing the work ourselves, enactive involvement; involving ourselves responsibly and naturally, towards an evolutionary utopia... towards an awakening of a mister or a miss hoopdriver...

 

Mr. Hoopdriver and his hoops.