Tuesday, July 12, 2005

More bicycle stories

Yesterday I posted on Ariel's increased forays into the world of successful bicycling. Well, it got me thinking about my own bicycling history, which I have always thought was a bit different than most kids.

You see, I didn't ride a bike actively or confidently until I was . . . I think . . . 14 years old or so.

Does that surprise you?

I have always thought that it made me a bit strange. Don't most kids start riding a bike steadily when they are much younger, maybe 6 or so?

Why did it take me so long? I don't remember any specific traumas that caused me to fear all things on two wheels or anything like that. I suppose it had to do with my perpetual bad balance (something rather important for successful bike riding). I don't know if I fell off too many times or was just uncomfortable up there . . . I don't know. But the fact remains that I was a very slow biker.

When I finally got into it, I had a very distinctive first bike. I think my neighbor's across the street won it in some contest and gave it to me. It was reddish-brown and had a banana-style seat. I think it had some sort of cowboy theme. (I swear I remember the word "buckaroo" somewhere in the name.) You would think I grew up in the Fifties, but no, it was the Seventies.

Anyway, I rode that one for a while but when I got older I got a black beach Cruiser style bike. I didn't like ten-speeds or those curly racing bars. I used that one for many years in high school, riding around from my house to my friends house and riding around town on the weekends listening to my Walkman.

In college I bought the bike that I have today--one of those off-road style Trek bikes that all the cool kids had in college. It even has the clips on the pedals to hold my foot in place for when I go off-roading, which I totally do all the time. Yeah, it's an awesome white color and even features a Greenpeace sticker (that was back in my activist years).

These, then are the brief impressions of my bicycling past. Illuminating, no? Don't you feel that you know me even better than ever?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He left out an important piece of info. I bought the bike he has now. It was the first major purchase on my very first credit card. He did pay me back later though.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't a REALLY important piece of info. I just like lording that fact over him. ;)