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By Al Olson
Most of us were taught in grade school about Christopher Columbus’ voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, Paul Revere’s midnight horse ride from Boston to Lexington in 1775 and Apollo 11’s first manned mission to the moon in 1969. But nearly forgotten in the annals of human history is the scientifically significant trip taken by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann on a bicycle through Basel, Switzerland, on April 19, 1943.
That was until Thomas Roberts, professor emeritus from Northern Illinois University, decided to correct the oversight in 1985. Roberts, an education psychologist and a pioneer in the study of psychedelics, single-handedly created “Bicycle Day” to commemorate Hofmann’s LSD-fueled, two-wheeled odyssey.
“I don’t really remember how the idea popped into my brain,” Roberts said when asked to recall how he conceived the name and concept for holiday. “It was something I thought about in the spur of the moment. And it seemed like a good idea. So, I invited some friends over and called it Bicycle Day.”
But before we get into the genesis and evolution of the holiday, here’s a brief history tutorial about Hofmann and his invention of lysergic acid diethylamide.
In the spring of 1943, Hofmann accidentally absorbed through his fingertips a small amount of what he thought was a conventional compound he was working on in his laboratory. Hofmann felt slightly inebriated and experienced “an intense, kaleidoscope-like play of colors,” he later wrote. A few hours later, the effect faded away. But three days later, at precisely 4:20 p.m. on April 19, Hofmann — intrigued by the adventitious lab experiment — boldly decided to ingest 250 micrograms of the molecule. Less than an hour later, he felt the mild effects. And he knew the intensity of the substance was about to soar.
Because of World War II restrictions, personal automobiles were not allowed on the streets of Basel, so Hofmann and his assistant hopped on their bikes and headed for the comforts of home. This is how he described the ride in his lab journal: “Little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux,” he wrote. “It was particularly remarkable how every acoustic perception, such as the sound of a door handle or a passing automobile, became transformed into optical perceptions. Every sound generated a vividly changing image, with its own consistent form and color.”
And the rest, as they say, is history. But in this case, the history of the first intentional acid trip was nearly forgotten until Professor Roberts revived the story and turned it into a celebration. As a scientist and a dabbler in psychedelia, Roberts felt it was important to honor Hofmann’s breakthrough experiment.
“Our original celebration on that Friday in 1985 was pretty non-psychedelic,” Roberts recalled. “The event was in my backyard and there were several families with children there. It happened to be a nice day for a picnic, which isn’t always the case in April in Northern Illinois.”
Some friends and colleagues thought Roberts’ brainchild was a bit too far out and unconventional. But the Stanford-educated scientist scoffed at the skepticism.
“Only the people who thought it was a good idea were invited,” he says with a laugh. “There were no more than 20 of us there at the original Bicycle Day event.”
For the next few decades, the Bicycle Day holiday idea slowly pedaled along the path of obscurity, only gradually picking up steam. Today, as a variety of psychedelics are seeing renewed interest for both practical and recreational applications, the event is celebrated around the world with fanfare and delight — in the academic community, counter-culture and everywhere in between.
“What tickles me the most is how widespread this holiday has become,” Roberts says. “Major cities throughout the world celebrate Bicycle Day now. It just fascinates me how a backyard party among friends has turned into an international affair.”
How to Celebrate Bicycle Day
Much like the annual 4/20 holiday — celebrated the day after Bicycle Day by cannabis enthusiasts all over the world — the event grew organically from a fringe, counter-cultural bacchanal to a mainstream observance. But LSD is not cannabis. So, what is the appropriate way to mark the occasion?
One person who knows a thing or two about celebrating mind-expanding substances is Vivian McPeak, the founder and executive director of Hempfest, the world’s largest cannabis festival held annually in Seattle. For 30 years, McPeak, who says he first experienced LSD as a teenager in California, has organized the multi-day “protestival.” The outdoor event was canceled in 2020 and 2021, due, in part, to the COVID pandemic.
“Any psychedelic celebration worth its salt would include a collective imbibing of entheogens,” McPeak says. “Add to that a well-crafted and mindful visual and auditory set-and-setting that would require the right assemblage of coaches. These coaches would be people who have been to the outer reaches of cerebral space and know how to expertly guide their audience through the kind of unique journey of exploration and ecstasy that defines a good psychedelic experience.”
McPeak reminds us that there is a makeshift template that has worked for decades: A Grateful Dead concert.
“As the house band for Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters’ Acid Tests so long ago that LSD was still legal, the Dead took their audience on a musical trip that includes a ‘space jam’ at about the point that the user of psychedelics would be peaking, with the energy of the music building until it reaches a great crescendo and then slowly bringing it all back down to Earth,” McPeak says. “It would not be a stretch to call the Grateful Dead the psychedelic church choir singing hymns about the cosmic mystery and disseminating love in the form of jubilation and euphoria from an overwhelming sense of oneness.”
Kesey’s acid tests began in the mid-1960s, following the publication of his first novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” They were a way to celebrate the use of LSD and became popularized by Tom Wolfe’s seminal book “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.” His son, Zane Kesey, has carried on the family tradition as a well-known blotter artist based in Oregon.
“I guess you can say my dad celebrated Bicycle Day before it even existed,” Kesey says. “He would be thrilled that people all over the world are celebrating this day.”
For the younger Kesey, he has been far too busy the last few Aprils to partake in the festivities. “For me, Bicycle Day is like Christmas,” he says. “But like retail stores in December, blotter artists in April are slammed with getting their designs out. It’s mayhem!”
Kesey compares the evolution of Bicycle Day to the 4/20 holiday.
“At first, people kind of giggled at the very idea of an LSD festivity. But in the past five years or so, it has become a legitimate event that impacts a lot of people,” he says. “And now, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. This is now officially a thing that will just mushroom in size and scope.”
For Professor Roberts, he doesn’t have any opinions or advice for the proper way to observe the holiday — as long as you take the moment to reflect on Hofmann’s brilliance and honor his achievement.
“How others celebrate the day is really a personal choice. It’s really not for me to say one way or the other,” Roberts says. “There’s no symbolic Christmas Tree or Easter Bunny. I suppose the only iconic imagery is the bicycle. It is such a good visual image.”
It’s an image he conjured up 36 years ago. And this was the missive he sent out to those who wanted to help him celebrate all those years ago:
“In this dark hour of ignorance and superstition about psychedelics, you can light a candle of hope and reason. To commemorate the bicycle ride that changed the world forever, let’s celebrate Bicycle Day with bicycle trips, sending cards with bicycle pictures on them to friends, joyful picnics, and other festive activities. Remember Bicycle Day and keep it holy.”
Al Olson is a journalist with more than 40 years of experience in mainstream print and online media. He has covered the cannabis industry for CNBC.com, the TODAY Show, NBC News.com, Marijuana Venture and a variety of other national and regional publications.