"It's not just the familiar image, a little more distorted or colourful, it's a completely different program. And that's because LSD changes our senses, you see better, you hear better, everything is intensified” ― Albert Hofmann
On April 19, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann accidentally absorbed a drop of a compound he’d shelved five years prior, hopped on his bike for the ride home from his Basel lab to the Rittimatte, and proceeded to have the most eventful commute in human history. He had just become Patient Zero for the world's first LSD trip.
Because World War II gas rations had effectively deleted car travel in Switzerland, the bicycle wasn't a lifestyle choice—it was the only getaway vehicle available for his mental departure.
Hofmann lived to 102, spent his century on Earth as an avid collector of minerals and plants, and viewed the "natural magic" of a crystal lattice as the same cosmic architecture he found in a test tube. He spent decades advocating for psychedelic research, famously dubbing LSD his "problem child" while insisting the kid had plenty to teach us. Turns out he was about 80 years ahead of the clinical curve.
From the molecular structures penned in his own hand to the original blotter art and the man himself—arms raised, still delighted by the world at the end of a long, strange, remarkable life—the legacy is clear.
We are absolutely playing "Bicycle Race" by Queen on a loop today. We will not be explaining further. 🚲🎵
"Bicycle Day" blotter art"
Novartis / Sandoz Corporate Archives;
The Keystone Agency, 1976
"St. Albert and the LSD Revelation,"-
Banksy, The Cans Festival
