For anyone who has ever learned how to ride a bike, there is a certain amount of nostalgia when you remember the first time you stayed up under your own power. That moment when you were in control of a speed much faster than you could get while simply running. I remember the little blue banana seat bike my dad had adjusted so it could fit my 4 year old frame. I rode non-stop for weeks after that experience and I've had a bike ever since. When I was eleven I started a paper route and rode my bike every day of the week delivering papers for the next five years. This picture is not me, but it could have been.
After I got my driver's license my dad bought me a
Vespa 150. I could get 77 miles per gallon on that hog. It allowed me to go back and forth from school, work and soccer practice feeling the wind on my face. I remember taking my girlfriend (now wife) on some wild rides on the freeway. This is where I learned about drafting. We got up to 75 mph once while drafting behind an 18-wheeler. Not smart, but definitely exhilirating.
I went on my 2-year church mission to Riverside, California. In my mission you were more likely to have a car than not. I was lucky, I was only in a car for 3 months. The other 21 months I was on a bike in perpetually warm Southern California. I loved it.
Now I ride my road bike for fun. I love crossing the finish line of an event with my family there.
This you-tube video posted by someone else, actually shows me crossing the finish line with my family on the side holding up signs and cheering.
It's quite romantic really; the thought of riding off into the sunset. No one ever talks about driving off into the sunset.
Vive le Velo!
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