Let's Go Ride A Bike...

*image from goodhousekeeping.com

As I collect my "pebbles" of desire a la Martha Beck and the Joy Diet, I keep coming back to bicycles.  I don't ride a bike, I have no history with bicycles but I have always been drawn to them.  I've decided to pay closer to attention to this desire and I've been placing the pebbles of my thoughts into a line to see where they take me.

I was great on a tricycle...3 wheelers were a breeze...up and down the sidewalk, turn in a driveway (and there weren't that many driveways on the street where I grew up) and head back the other way.  Ride like the wind.  Not so graceful me even fell off the tricycle a few times.  I had a lead foot then which I've apparently taken with me into adulthood (if the posted speed limit is 50k why not go 60?  and you'll be pleased to know that the hypocrite in me is alive and well as I constantly tell my son when he's driving with me "watch your speed"...of course I have the grace to avert my eyes and hang my head...).

My first bicycle was a hand-me-down.  Ah the hand-me-down.  How often do we use that phrase today?  Many of our children don't know the word hand-me-down and they are truly blessed if they do not.  But I suspect that there are still families where this tradition is alive and well.  When my boys were younger I was able to re-use sleepers, pants, shirts...but as they grew their shapes and sizes were so different it become impossible.  That clothing has (and continues to be) donated to charity for re-sale.  When I was younger my hand-me-downs came from my cousins.  I had no older siblings (and my clothes weren't able to be passed to my sister for the same reason as my own children) so with money tight, whatever my cousins were finished with came to me.  The day the bicycle arrived I was in awe.  And not a little frightened.

As this was a used bike there were no training wheels, and at that time I don't think anyone thought to see if such a thing could be purchased.  Again, money was tight...no one would want to spend the money.  So I learned the hard way -- trial and error.  That was how we learned most things when I was growing up -- trial and error.  No better way to learn anything in life.  That meant a great many errors (and bandaids) and sometimes shaken confidence.  But I persevered.  I lived in the city and I practiced on the sidewalks where I was fine.  Riding on the road?  That intimidated me quite a bit.  Add a hearing loss and shaky balance it wasn't a great combination.

The year I was 9-10 we lived in the country in a little town called Grimsby...it was the country then, now it's subdivisions and a thriving little metropolis.  There weren't many sidewalks in the area where I lived and during my grade 5 year the school was having an addition.  That meant we all attended school in shifts...the younger grades from 8:30 - 1:00 and the older grades from 1:00 - 5:30 p.m.  With the shorter days it was dark when I was coming home and so I rode my bike every day.  I had a basket for my books and I was quite happy making my way to and from school.  When we returned to the city, the bicycle was put away.  I don't believe I ever rode it again.  It didn't go to my sister -- she received a new bike - with a banana seat and high handlebars (mine was old-fashioned indeed!).

*image from istockphoto.com

I often think of France and bicycles.  I love the idea of women in their skirts, with a scarf around their hair, riding in the villages to the boulangerie, the epicerie, to the fleuriste to collect their needs for the day.  Perhaps a stop at the cafe for a cafe au lait and a croissant before heading home to prepare the meal.

So what is it about bicycles that appeals to me?  It's not the riding itself -- it's the quaint life; the life in the village; the slow pace.  I have an image of myself in a cottage, with a bicycle that has a basket as I go about my daily life.  I remember saying in the not too distant past that I would love a cottage near the water so that I could paint, create art, write and go about the quiet pace of life with joy.  And therein lies my heart's desire. Oh bliss.

While searching for images of bicycles I discovered this cross-stitch pattern which I love.  I haven't cross-stitched in years (my sister more than friend Lois still stitches and has just started her own blog!) but I have a strong feeling I will be making this.

*image from crossstitchworld.com

I also discovered this site Let's Go Ride A Bike and fell in love with this bicycle which is featured in the video below.  I felt such joy when I saw this little beauty!