Comments on: “Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.”

By: katry

katry — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:40:45 +0000

My Dear Hedley,
My bike, too, was a gift from my parents as I was 9 or 10 and knew the secret of Santa Claus. The bike must have been hidden next door as it wasn’t anywhere in the house or one of us would have seen it. I remember it was blue with white around the fenders.

You and your sister share a wonderful Christmas memory. I think for eall of us the first bike becomes etched in our memories. They are always the special bike, the one which gave us the first taste of freedom.

By: Hedley

Hedley — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:40:14 +0000

My sister and I were talking about those first bikes. They are bought on HP through the Littlewoods catalogue and lived in the loft of my grandparents bungalow until that magical morning.
I don’t know how the two bikes moved from Ashtead to Leatherhead but they did, and were downstairs on that magical morning. Mark and Gavin next door also got bikes. We lived on a large circular residential island, (aka the island) and around and around we went for hour after hour giddy with the speed, racing and the freedom.
We cleaned them, they rusted especially the chrome wheels, we loved them.
Today I treasure the 15 year old Cannondale that I use when I ride with big Rick. My sister does mind blowing distance rides..John OGroats to Landsend, London to the South of France, you get the picture.
We loved those first bikes. They were gifts from Mum and Dad and not Father Christmas. We loved them

By: katry

katry — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:10:02 +0000

John,
I live near the bike trail, and I haven’t seen bikes in a few weeks. I guess we’re on a winter hiatus.

I am the oldest so no hand-me-down bike. My brother was next and the only boy so he always got a new one too. I don’t remember about my sisters but I don’t think they were travelers the way my brother and I were.

That spawn is probably on the road with his thumb out. I have two I’d love to see relocate: one os grey and the other red. It’s the red one I’d choose to go first. They are the nastiest of spawns.

By: john

john — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:06:06 +0000

Although it’s raining today, it’s been bike riding weather for the past few weeks. Snow at Christmas is highly over-rated.
Bikes in our family were hand-me-downs, until my brother and I each made enough on our paper route’s Christmas tips to buy our own. I got a great, black one speed Schwinn, while my brother, who had a bigger route, got an ultra sophisticated three speed bike with chrome fenders. We were so proud of those bikes. But now,,, can’t even remember where they ended up.

Kat,
Yesterday I ‘relocated’ my 6th Spawn of Satan. He made the journey to a corn field across the river and 7 miles out of town. Hopefully, he didn’t take note of the landmarks on the way there. I’d hate to see him come back.

By: katry

katry — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:59:40 +0000

Bob,
New Year’s Day will be in the mid 40′s, warm for this time of year. It is almost pleasant if there is no wind. I can’t remember ever having a drought condition here.

I always wanted trains, but they were considered a boy’s gift, not a girl’s. I felt cheated. When I was an adult, my roommate gave me trains. I still have them-HO scale. I made a lot of buildings for them.

That camera is a great gift. I do remember getting a developed roll of film back and being disappointed at how awful some of my pictures were. Love digital!

By: katry

katry — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:54:46 +0000

Z&Me,
You’re right about the bike only needing a patch or a new tire and nothing much else, but there wasn’t any status with a bike. Only a car brought that.

I so loved the freedom my bike gave me. My street was the best going down but a bit of a struggle going up. I remember when I biked all the way up that hill the first time. I was really proud.

In the spring, I loved riding it to school.

By: katry

katry — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:52:10 +0000

Moprfy,
He was also a movie actor-he was the star of No Time for Sergeants.

If you hadn’t told me, I’m not sure I’d recognize this as Andy. He has no accent here which I always associate with him. Thanks for this!!!!

By: katry

katry — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:50:30 +0000

Christer,
We have similar weather: cold then warmer then cold again. I think the rain is a couple of days away.

It’s so true about a bike giving you freedom. We rode all over town on the weekends. We had to manuever our bikes into the cellar which wasn;t easy. The door was beside the bottom of the steps so you had to ove the bike in a crazy angle to put it away. Most winter days it got put away, not so much in the summer.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:43:06 +0000

The year will end here in North Texas with sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 60s which is also the forecast for tomorrow. While I was gone it rained enough to move the DFW area out of the severe drought range into just the plane old drought category.

The big gift is always the one best remembered. I can recall every detail of getting my first bicycle for my birthday, but I can’t remember which one. My first and only electric train set came at Chanukah time in 1952. We didn’t run the train set around the menorah and I was always envious of my Christian friends who ran their trains around the Christmas tree. When I first saw those gifts everything else disappeared into oblivion. One Chanukah gift that was a surprise from my parents was my first camera. It was a twin lens reflex made by Ansco. Even black and white film was expensive to buy and to develop so taking good photos required lots of planning and a lot of forethought. Today I just shoot 100s of frames and still can’t fill up a two gigabyte SD card. Unfortunately, trying to capture the image from my mind’s eye onto a piece of silicone is not any easier than getting it onto a piece of celluloid more than 50 years ago.

By: Zoey & Me

Zoey & Me — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:35:24 +0000

There is nothing better than your first bike. I thought of my first car and thought, yeah but it came with all those costs, insurance, put gas in it (.25 cents a gallon) and fix flat tires. The bike was like, oh, fix a flat tire . . . I can do that. But the joy of that first ride down the neighborhood streets gave me that feeling of independence. I love taking the hills and rolling down the other side at high speeds. Nothing better. And you are sooo right. Had to wait till after Mass to ride it.