During the summer of 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic cut off my access to my normal form of exercise. I started going on long bike rides to clear my head, which I later realized was a way of coping with my undiagnosed ADHD. When I don’t exercise for a few days, my mind feels fuzzy and it is hard to think. Exercising feels like a mental relief as my mind becomes clear and I can think again. These bike rides became a ritualistic way to return to my self- and my mind - throughout that summer.
The Bike Rides is an interactive experience that explores this connection between riding a bike and the state of my mind, or more broadly, exercise and ADHD. It is controlled like a video game, where the user’s keyboard input controls the bike, the speed of which controls the intensity of the visual distortions. The less movement, the more pixelated and blurry the scene gets, and with constant movement the screen becomes clearer as I clear my head. I hope it allows the user to understand this aspect of how my life and how I feel.
