Bicycle Love Reflection

In her essay “Bicycle Love”, Brianne Goodspeed shows stepping outside your comfort zone changes you through her experience biking across France. When her journey begins, Goodspeed questions her decision to go on her “pilgrimage.” Her diction proves this. She “fantasize[s] about leaving France” more than once, but once she “discover[s] France’s Alter ego: the one that loves cyclists and independence”, she “[doesn’t] want to go back to the United States.” When Goodspeed gets a new bike, she nicknames the bike “Bad-Boy”, but once tragedy strikes, the connotation of “Bad-Boy” changes from a fun nickname for her new toy to her way of disciplining her bike for misbehaving. Once she starts her journey and gets more comfortable, the bike’s nickname changes to “Bad-girl”, showing she’s past the initial struggle. Over three weeks, Goodspeed’s time on her bike changes her as shown through diction and the connotation of certain words.