JB Say What?

What is it about a new bicycle that makes one feel like a kid?

I still remember my first bike. I was being dropped off at my house from nursery school, I think. As I walked down the driveway, the garage door opened (my father, being the king of gadgets, was the first on the block with an automatic door opener) and there, directly beneath the “Edifice Rex” sign above the door, was a shiny new two-wheeler. I have no memory of any of the particulars, but I am certain that I was never more thrilled as a kid than when that bike magically appeared. A close second was a few days later when I found myself peddling down the street continually yelling back at my father, who was at the time 100 yards behind me, not to let go of the back of the bike.

I suppose that one’s first bike is memorable because it is the a kid’s first taste of independence. Once you have a bike, your world expands enormously. I could go to my friend’s house on the next block and together we could go the five and dime store that must have been a whole 1/2 mile away.

From the time you get your bike until the time you get your driver’s license, it is hard to think of another event in one’s life that fosters your independence to such an extent. Those who live in cities with mass transit may point to learning how to navigate the subway or bus system as key events. But the difference is that unlike your bike or your car, you really don’t control those conveyances.

So which of the two, the bike or the car, is more evocative for the average American? I would guess that for most, their first car would stand out most. I would have thought that the same held for me, but today when I picked up my road bike after its annual tune-up, and got an eyeful of the new tires, chain, cassette, newly taped handlebars, shiny body, I started giggling like a boy. I can’t wait to take it out for spin tomorrow morning.

Posted by Glenn on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pm.