There's always those things that I never imagined that I'd get into. Those activities and niches, I suppose, that I dismissed and thought to be well, frankly, a fad. And maybe they are; but cycling has evolved into something completely different for me. Cycling is something that I am so grateful to have been blessed with, for the people, for the sheer joy of riding, and for the doors it has opened in my life.
I grew up with a light blue bike with training wheels which I quickly outgrew, and then my parents bought me a Power Rangers bike at the local toy store so that I could ride with my fellow preschool friends. Which is crazy, because I still vividly remember riding along the trails with my friends, having recently taken my training wheels off after my dad taught me to not be afraid to fall. After that, I rode mountain bikes from Target of the Pacific Cycles sort, all of which I enjoyed and got me around. I never took cycling that seriously, aside from a pastime that seemed to dwindle as high school came around.
Throughout high school, I hardly rode my bike, and when I did, I remember it was so hard to pedal and took so much effort to get home. Looking back, it was definitely a flat tire that kept me from rolling easily on the streets. However, during sophomore year, a good friend of mine, Nick, let me ride one of his bikes which was more of a touring bike with big wheels and skinny tires. This was the first time I experienced how easy it was to ride these types of bikes. I had fallen in love with bikes again, and I even went so far to ask him to borrow it for awhile (to which he happily obliged), and I thought about picking up one of his dad's old road bikes. But after that, junior year hit and I was so preoccupied with getting into college that any thoughts about cycling had taken a spot on the back burner.
First year of college, I firmly told my parents that I didn't need a bike and that "I would be fine getting around without one". I remember, and after moving into a suite where 3 people already had bikes, two of which were fixed gear, I began shopping online for my own. I ended up purchasing a Kilo Stripper two months into college, a basic steel bike with no brakes, with the intention to put a freewheel on it. However, after I built it up, I never even got around to putting the freewheel on, as I really enjoyed riding fixed gear. Since then, I've passed that bike onto a friend of mine, and I've gone through many other bikes, all of which have been fixed gears. To this day, the only geared bikes that I have are the ones at home from Target. The absurdity of riding without brakes still makes people roll their eyes and wonder. But I love it.
I've come to understand that the bikes may change, the faces may sometimes come and go, but that unexplainable relationship through cycling is something extraordinary. That mutual understanding that even though we may not ride together all the time, and we may not have the time to ride right now, we all know of that euphoria between one's self and the bicycle, thats what we continue to share. From that comes friendships, opportunities like working at the campus bike shop, camaraderie, and so much more. I hope to share this joy with as many of my friends as I can! To many more years of enjoying life through cycling.
