A ride down memory lane in honor of National Bicycle Month | Barnett
May is National Bicycle Month, time for all the bikes I've loved before.
When I was 3 years old, my first bicycle had hard-rubber tires. All I remember was getting the training wheels off, riding down the driveway hill, and unable to turn, crashing into the curb. My bike was fun!
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By age 6, a 20-inch bike took me to little league games with a glove swinging from the handlebars. That bike took me to Big Walnut Creek where I caught my first rock bass. We always knew where our friends were by looking for their bikes outside a home. Our bikes were freedom!
By seventh grade I had a paper route. My boss said I won my first new bike, a 26-inch Schwinn with chrome fenders. Each morning at 5 a.m. for three years it held my sack of newspapers on the back fender. I could reach back, pull out a paper, fold it, and throw it onto each porch. My bike taught me business and made rich — for a kid!
At dental school I biked each day to class on a safe, paved bike trail. I waved at everyone. Even Coach Woody Hayes, walking part of the same route to his football practices, waved and said hi. My bike helped me start each school day happy!
For the next 20 years in the military, biking to work saved Wendy and I from buying a second car about half those years. Using AAA figures, my bike saved a $50,000 down payment on our first house.
A paved bike trail took me safely to Bethesda Naval Hospital. While everyone else stressed about D.C. traffic, I just smiled and said, “What traffic.” During two 12-inch blizzards, while most drivers were stuck, my bike got me to home and work stress free.
In Japan they didn’t waste tax dollars widening roads and instead had compact cities. Their non-driving culture taught me biking was much more efficient than driving. Iwakuni’s convenient train station had thousands of bikes parked — unlocked! Biking was so efficient; I bought my new first 10-speed bike.
At Puerto Rico, the base’s slow driving speeds and hills surrounded by Caribbean seas was beautiful exercise. At Camp Lejeune Marine Base I found a secret six-mile trail through a forest to base. With no “training,” I entered my first bike race and finished only six seconds from the winner. I learned how easy it was to be fit — just riding my bike instead of driving!
In Tallahassee we bought a home near a bike lane. It was 10 miles from work but amazingly after only a month, my body adapted. I bought a 29-inch mountain bike, a tank, to ride on roads, sidewalks, or dirt — wherever I felt safest.
Best of all, my bike was the Fountain of Youth for me and many friends in their 70s and 80s adventuring all over the country. Not surprisingly, at one point on my Appalachian Trail hike, a dozen in a row fit retirees were cyclists.
I LOVE my bikes.
Joseph Barnett is a retired Tallahassee dentist and nature enthusiast. For more information on local outdoorsy activities email Joseph Barnett at jdbarnettgums@hotmail.com.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: National Bicycle Month: Spinning through favorite wheels
