We've been on a pretty negative kick for a while now, and I thought it would be nice to have a very positive thread started.
When I first started bicycling as an adult, I brought my bicycle to my old home town neighborhood in Salem, Oregon, and bicycled around it. Then, I stopped at the Pratt's house. Mrs. Pratt, whom I had known as a child, was still there, although her husband had passed away some years before. She invited me in, and I heard how my old school buddy Larry was doing. She talked about the neighborhood, and how our next-door neighbor boy had taken over his parent's house.
I went next door, and introduced myself to his wife as the guy who helped her husband when he fell off our swing set and broke his arm. They invited me in to see their house, and it was so interesting to see a home dedicated as a Coca-Cola museum. Every decoration in the house was a Coke product of some kind, including antique Coke machines. There were old bottles on the walls, and framed advertisements hanging too. It was one of those "Wow" houses.
Then I went across the street to see another home. The lady still lived there, the mother of a friend we had played with in grade school. We talked, and I found out where he was working as a superintendent of a saw mill in the Oregon Coast Range.
The whole trip was most pleasant, and could have only happened by bicycle. Cars get in the way of meeting people. On a bicycle, you stop and you are there, face-to-face, talking with someone. No barriers, no finding a place to park, no getting out of the car, you are there.
Let's here some other stories of how bicycling has changed our perspectives of the world around us.
John
The BikeForums Team
-adv-
This is an archived thread, you can find the full version of this thread, with images, links and more content here.
When I'm biking, I get some of the same sensations as flying in an airplane. I guess it's no surprise that Orville & Wilbur Wright were bike builders before switching to planes. And no doubt the control they used on a bicycle taught them how to "feel" the airplane as well. I'll take a bike pedal over a gas pedal anyday. If I had to give one up, it'd definitely be the car. I've biked in Sugarloaf Maine, NY,NJ & CT., Northern Illinois, Vail Colorado & Hampstead England. Every place is a different experience and it was more greatly appreciated because it was done so on a bike. Biking gives you the time to look at the environment at just the right pace. Winding back country roads are my favorite. I like steep hills also because they make me strong... and they're so much fun to descend. Yee-haw. Btw, anyone interested in learning more about the Wright Bros. check out "The Bishop's Boys" by Tom Crouch. A new bike in 1892 cost $160! Today's top-end bikes cost 1500-3K or so. Somehow I think we're gettin' the better deal! :D
Steve
Chris L
I posted the below in another thread some time ago. I'll reproduce it here because I'm too lazy to go around linking individual posts, and because I want to add a little. :p
I didn't really learn to ride a bike until I was 12. I was a very unco-ordinated kid. If it wasn't for the perserverence of my old mates from Werris Creek, I doubt I would have learned at all. I cycled on and off through my teens at various stages. However, it wasn't until I came to the Gold Coast at 18 that I got into it seriously. The first time I rode Springbrook the first time it nearly killed me. However I stuck it out, made it to Purlingbrook falls (not actually the top of the mountain, but a significant milestone as far as I'm concerned), and took a photo.
That photo didn't work very well (I wasn't much of a photographer at that stage), but it changed my life completely. About a week later I had that bike stolen (yes, my effort last May wasn't the first). At that time I was unemployed with no prospects of finding a job, no money, and as far as I was concerned, no hope.
However, every time I looked at that photo I thought back on the memorable day I had riding up the mountain, and the sheer beauty of the falls. It gave me hope. The breakthrough came when I was asked to help someone out with some renovations - hard work for sh*t pay - but it bought me a new bike. I could ride the mountains again.
I soon found that I wanted to go further afield, and did so. Now I had a purpose - and my life changed for the better. From that point forward I was hooked on riding. It's taken me to places I would never have even thought of going - and it's helped me appreciate things I had never previously appreciated.
I now know that every time things are difficult in any facet of life, I need only ride Springbrook again. I will have a new perspective on these matters.
Of course, there are other reasons, too. Practical ones in fact. I knew I could get home from work in the same 30 minutes I always take this afternoon for example. I did not have to worry about Friday afternoon traffic the way all the "normal" people did. I was also able to enjoy that little storm we got.
In short, I really don't even want to think about what my life would have become without the bike.
L J Horton
The freedom to go where I want, stop where I want and ride as fast as I want is what keeps me sane in an otherwise screwed up world. To explore those tiny lanes, that would never be considered if I were in a car, is to keep the fires of curiosity and hope alive. Curiosity just to see what's there and hope that it will be something interesting or beautiful.
I don't ride for recreation, I don't ride for health, I don't ride for transportation, but I do ride for the enjoyment of Life.
lsits
Here's my story. I'll tell the short version.
Last summer (2002) my doctor recommended that I get some exercise. (I have type 2 diabetes) Due to my age (47) running was too hare on my knees. I decided to start biking again. I got a Magna bike at Toys R Us and started riding. First I did 4 to 5 miles around the neighborhood and worked up to 12 to 15 miles. After daylight savings time I didn't ride as much. It was dark when I left for work and dark when I got home. I would ride once about every other weekend.
That all changed this past July thanks to Lance, Jan, Tyler and the rest of the boys. I got really motivated and started riding my bike more frequently and for longer distances. I heard about the Rosarito to Ensenada ride and signed up. I bought a Trek 7300 hybrid bike about a month ago and I have around 500 miles on it already.
Can't forget the health benefits. Luckily I don't have to inject insulin. I was taking four 500 mg Glucovance tablets a day. Since I've been riding regularly and checking my blood sugar more often, I've reduced that to two and sometimes one pill a day. My hair has even started growing back! (Just kidding, that's not ever going to happen)
For motivation I look to the bike forums, Ken Kifer's pages, John Allen and Sheldon Brown. The Rosarito Ensenada ride is tomorrow. I'm really excited. We'll see how I feel on Sunday.
SteveE
Years ago, 20 or so, my wife and I were on a self-guided tour in France with another couple. We were in Burgundy in early June and because of the wet winter there were lots of areas that were flooded. We were having a hard time getting to where we wanted to go due to road closures. Finally, a young Frenchman in his car came by, as we were stopped at an intersection and perusing of Michelin map, and asked if we needed any assistance. We told him, in halting French, that we were trying to get to Dijon but couldn't find a road that wasn't flooded. He told us to follow him and he drove slowly and guided us to a small village where we could continue our journey without worrying about the flooding.
We decided to spend the night in the village and checked into a small hotel. Later that evening, before dinner, we wandered through the town and stopped to drool over the confections at a patisserie. While we were talking, a young woman overheard us and said "Americans! Americans never come to Pesmes!" She proceeded to tells us that she was from Philadelphia and had married a Frenchman and that she had never seen Americans in her little village before. She invited us to dinner but we convinced her that we would buy dinner for her and her husband at a local restaurant but wanted her husband, who grew up in the area, to order the dinner since he knew what the local specialties of food, cheese, wine, etc. were.
We had a very nice dinner and, when he found out that we were going to bike to Dijon, suggested that Beaune would be better. We ended up traveling to Beaune, instead of Dijon, which was a delightful small town almost entirely set within old medieval walls. I also remember that my wife got the best haircut of her life in Beaune and a funny little waiter at a restaurant where we had dinner one evening.
If we had been traveling by car, we would have missed meeting some wonderful people and places. The memories I have of places we've visited on our bicycle tours, especially those where we've struck out on our own with no fixed plans, are much more intense and vivid than when we've traveled by car.