Singing and dancing in public. Taking random chances.
No doubt about it, love makes us do crazy things.
For Milwaukee, Wis. resident Peter Mulvey, 40, it's enough of an emotion to get him on his bicycle and riding to 10 cities throughout the month of September, performing his music for crowds along the way.
He covers the haul from city to city using his recumbent bicycle, guitar strapped to the back, and is in the middle of his third bike-based tour taking him from the Mid-West to the East coast.
By arriving in Buffalo Tuesday night, Mulvey will have completed the longest leg of the tour, riding 305 miles from Ann Arbor, Mich.
'We've just been taking side and back roads,' said Mulvey, who was halfway to Buffalo and in a Canadian hotel when interviewed. 'It's beautiful in Canada … the sunrise has been beautiful and that's been the best part. [Canadians] definitely have us beat in terms of roads and politeness of the drivers.'
Mulvey has been singing and writing for the past 27 years and has twelve albums to his name. When singing and touring, Mulvey performs mostly solo with an acoustic guitar.
Mulvey's twelfth album, Letters from a Flying Machine, is mostly acoustic with some spoken word. Starting the track with 'Dear Edgar,' he describes modern technology to his young nephew, talking about everything from bikes and computers to how MP3 players work.
Throughout the album he reads off letters that he has written to his nieces and nephews, each telling a story, some setting up the next song. In the track 'Letters from a Flying Machine,' he discusses riding his bicycle along the Hank Aaron trail in Michigan with his family.
Mulvey says his major motivations for touring on his bike are to save fuel and to hopefully get more people into carpooling and using buses or bicycles. He would also like people to 'do what they can do' in efforts to save on fuel use and saving the environment.
'It's just fun,' Mulvey said of the tour. 'Hopefully it's making a point on how to do these things a different way.'
In total, Mulvey will put in 1,100 miles on his bike. During the shows, Mulvey will be playing tunes from Letters from a Flying Machine.
Mulvey admits that breaks are a much-needed relief while covering the vast distances. He stops several times throughout the day.
'We stop six or eight times,' Mulvey said. 'You just have to stop, you have to hydrate. Some people can [go without stopping], but we're not crazy.'
To maximize his comfort, Mulvey uses a recumbent bicycle that has a backrest. The pedals are placed on the front wheel, creating a much more relaxing and easy way to ride.
'It's like I'm riding in a Cadillac all day,' Mulvey said.
He compared the comfort and ease of riding his recumbent cycle to previous tours when he used a regular bike.
'I'm loving it - I think I'm in the best shape I've been in my whole life,' he said.
Apart from saving fuel, Mulvey's other motivation is love.
'Love has capacity and we have capacity to try to be positive,' Mulvey said. 'A human being is a deciding being and they can decide to be positive, and as far as I can tell this tour is a more positive way for me to do what I already do. When you're young you want to save the world and I think as you get a little older you should do what you do and do it a little more positively.'
E-mail: spectrum-features@buffalo.edu
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
