Pedal Steel Blues

Saturday April 15, 2006

As a kid, the arrival of a new bike for Christmas or birthdays was a big event. For the weeks leading up to the event, there was much discussion on the merits of a new bike, the inherent danger in the presently used bike, the keeping up with the Jones' argument, the bartering of long overdue and disliked chores ('I'll clean the garage'), the tactic of playing one parent against the other and the usual acting like a proper young man at all times inside the house. You know, elbows off the table, cleaning of the room, taking out garbage and not using the hamper to practice the 20-foot turnaround jumper.

The argument from the other side would be your bike is perfectly fine, if you hadn't stripped the bike of all its safety features (fenders, chain guards) and if you would stop jumping off the curbs you wouldn't need a new one, or, if Bobby jumped off a cliff, would you jump off, too, and the classic close of ''You know, money doesn't grow on trees!''

The game was played with the knowledge that the bike would be received on the proper date unless, of course, you killed a sibling or the A&P abruptly went out of business.

We rode our bikes a lot in the old neighborhood. They transported us to the ball fields, courts, school, church, other parts of town and the adventures in the undeveloped areas behind our housing area. We rode to the store for sodas, sweets and subs. We (occasionally) went to the library and cruised in front of some girl's house that might have caught our fancy. A speed run to chase the ice cream truck made a bike indispensable.

A walk that curved left to the driveway divided our front yard. Our new bikes were always bikes we could ''grow into''. So, until we did, we used the front stoop to push off with and wobble to the driveway before building up steam and riding off. My poor mom would try to grow flowers, or plant a small bush to grow in that small patch of lawn. By the beginning of summer there would always be a dead plant in the spot. Dead after being run over numerous times by poorly controlled bicycles.

They were different times as there was no need for locks or helmets, as no one thought of a rip off and traffic was light enough and the drivers, for the most part, seemed to look out for us. I can even remember riding behind the county's mosquito control truck for blocks, as it laid its fog of bug killer around the area. Hey, we didn't know!

After I got older, during those 'tween years of 16 to 18, being on a bike was considered un-cool. Bikes were for kids and it was with longing that we waited for the 17th birthday to be able to get the driver's learning permit. After traveling to Europe and seeing how the bike was utilized, my biking zeal was restored. Living in Portland in the mid 70's, I had a Peugeot 10 speed that I went all over town on. It had those skinny tour tires on it and it would zip up and down the hills of the city.

Now, living in a real bike town has gotten me back into the swing again. For the past year, when I needed a bike to go anywhere, we would always borrow an available one for the need. It was ok, but didn't allow me the daily access I was looking for.

Today, I got a new bike!


I guess I was a good boy, because it is first class in every way. One of my criteria for a new bike was that I needed to be able to go up the steep hill behind my house. If you had a one gear bike, you would have to get off the bike and walk up most of the slope. This one will allow me to go up without even standing on the pedals. The one drawback is that the ''Easy Rider'' had to say yes to a helmet, or I wouldn't get it. The bike is Finnish brand, Tunturi. As you can see, it's a long way from the JC Higgins I used to ride.

What I found amazing was that even after all these years that, as I was looking at the bike after the test run, I felt that “new bike” glow filling me. That glow that makes you want to ride a while, right then and there. It was a really good feeling. Hadn't felt it for awhile.

It's going to be a great summer.