Why I Ride a Bike

I still get funny looks sometimes when I say that I am a cyclist. Not as often since Lance Armstrong won 7 straight tours. Still, as often as not, when I meet someone I know they are thinking isn't riding a bike for kids or do you really enjoy wearing spandex. The answer to both these questions are yes and just a few of the reasons why I enjoy riding a bike although I can safely saying wearing spandex was not the reason why I began riding.

I started riding as a child as it provided another level of freedom. When I was five years old I was given carte blanche to ride anywhere I wanted as long as I did not cross Main St in our small town. This liberated me from the pedestrian confinement that I was limited to in my first 4 years of life. As I grew older my bike served as transportation to football and baseball practice, riding past and eventually to a girls house, and roaming the village streets with my friends as we raced to street signs or meandered through the evening and into the night hours without any purpose other than to avoid boredom.

A driver's license, part-time jobs, and girlfriends that lived outside of town parted me from my daily riding for a number of years. As college came to a close and relegated to sharing a car with my kid sister I again turned to the bike. Since that time (15+ years) I have learned to love the bike as a child. Of course it is different now as riding involves wearing cycling kit, a helmet, and training for races. Yet, that personal joy you experience when riding by yourself or with a group of friends as you navigate through the countryside is not much different than what you experience as a child. Although now I can cross Main St without worry.