Today Is Bicycle Day, Which Isn’t Quite What You Think

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The guardrails protecting democracy may have buckled, but they are not broken. Autocratic forces are ascendant in America, but the story isn’t fully written. Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against Trump’s unrestrained exercise of power. He rails against the press as the “enemy of the people,” because he hates the scrutiny that comes from fearless investigative reporting. Our nonprofit newsroom is built for the chaos ahead. Please stand with us.

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Today is Bicycle Day, and the lieutenant governor of New York wants you to celebrate by going for a spin on the newly completed Empire State Trail, which honestly looks idyllic.

#BicycleDay is a perfect opportunity to get outside and enjoy the recently completed 750-mile Empire State Trail connecting New York City to Canada and Buffalo to Albany!

Plan your ride today ->https://t.co/aCzjxxGC2O

📸: pre-COVID days pic.twitter.com/VL1wUuGxde

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) April 19, 2021

But Bicycle Day is about more than honoring everyone’s favorite two-wheeled form of transportation. On this day 78 years ago, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann ingested 250 micrograms of lysergic acid diethylamide, the substance he had first synthesized five years prior. During the bicycle ride from his laboratory to his home in Basel, the story goes, Hofmann experienced dramatic changes in sensory perception—the first acid trip.

Psychedelics enthusiasts celebrate the discovery annually by turning on, tuning in, and dropping out on April 19, Bicycle Day. Biking under the influence is not recommended, although it could be quite interesting.