Traction
London, ON, June 2007
We've been riding bikes a lot lately. Our kids have been bitten by the cycling bug, often asking to go out after supper so they can get some seat time with us. Sometimes we take the dog outside, and sometimes I leave the dog in the house - where he proceeds to bark and cry at the window - so I can get on my own machine and ride alongside them.
I love knowing that the simple act of riding a bicycle, something that has defined me for so long, is now becoming a part of our kids' lives as well.
More on this soon. For now, I leave you with a view of my son's bike during a rare motionless moment.
Your turn: What does cycling mean to you?
One more thing: I rather like how this entry contrasts with Cyclical Geometry (if you haven't read it, feel free to click back.) Cycling in China and cycling on our cul-de-sac present two very different realities, yet they are amazingly similar as well. I suspect the legions of riders I saw when I was in Shanghai were all once just kids, too, taking their first tentative spins around the neighborhood. Just like ours.
I miss riding my bike (which it turns out I did not sell last year after all, because I couldn't bear to part with it) and I keep thinking I need to pull it out of the garage, grease the chain, and give it a try again.
ReplyDeleteWe need better bike paths here. Too many crazy drivers to ride on the street...
Michele sent me over, Carmi.
ReplyDeleteI was a pretty decent racer as a kid and young adult but it's been nearly 2 decades since I've ridden seriously, Carmi. I've got a couple of bikes in storage but despite a few brief stabs last year at making them road worthy again--they're still just hanging there. I need to get back on a bike again. It really is such a great way to keep the body in shape.
In an interesting coincidence I mentioned cycling on my blog today also though in my case I was referring to the Tour de France.
I enjoy bike riding though I haven't done it much lately.
ReplyDeleteHere from Michele's
I haven't ridden a bike in years! Maybe I'll pry mine out of the back of the garage this weekend...
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me this time..
I only get the red x, Carmi no photo. I have not been on a bike in at least 20 years. I'd need a tractor seat now!!
ReplyDeleteI need to get my bike down too. It's stored upside down on a wall in our garage. I'm not even sure the tires are inflated! I've just been having fun watching my girls ride instead. BUT I really should get some exercise myself!
ReplyDeleteIt used to mean adventure. In recent years I started bike riding again, but I find it means a pain in the ass these days (literally). I think gravity has caused my padding to slip :)
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me here tonight to say that I regretfully haven't ridden a bike in at least 13 years lol I sort of miss it, but in the rush rush rush of my life it's just faster to take the car! I used to love riding a bike when I was younger but I would feel silly riding a bike now
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Amsterdam last week, there were thousands of bicycles!
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me.
Cycling to me always meant freedom.
ReplyDeleteBeing raised in a violent noisy home, it was excellent to be able to climb on my bike and cycle away from the aggression to peace and quiet, the wind in my hair and in control of my own life and destiny for a few precious minutes.
It's so long since I cycled anywhere. The roads here are quite dangerous now, the trsffic is so heavy and what with satnavs, radios, mobile phones the drivers aren't exactly concentrating.
But I have got a hold of a bike gratis and for nothing from the Aginoths. All I have to do is collect it and fix it up, then I can start cycling for pleasure again - sticking to the glorious Gloucestershire countryside, of course.....
Keep the Levylets on their bikes, and you and Morahmommy make sure to ride with them (and Frasier now and then!) lots and lots........ :-)
btw - after all that - just popped in to say you 'almost' nabbed the caption contest at the palace again the other week - but it ended up a tie.........
cq
I managed to put my bike back together after nine years of disuse. The handlebars were straightened out, the pedals reassembled (almost stripped them, though), the brakes repositioned and tightened, and the tires replenished with air. And amazingly, it still works great. The tires did not deflate (I figured after 9 years of storage units, sheds and garages, they would have dry rotted!)
ReplyDeleteNow I plan on taking a ride a few times a week - hopefully.
When I was young, long before I had my own car, cycling meant freedom and adventure.
ReplyDeleteI shall be out on thin tyres tomorrow.
ReplyDelete