Merrily we roll along

I have always loved riding a bicycle. My first memories of bike riding are while sitting on the handlebars with my feet in the basket while my brother pedaled. While still in diapers, I would stand on the back of the tricycle, holding onto my brother, with a belt around us to hold me on while we rode.

The bike on which I learned to ride was a hand-me-down from my siblings with its best mileage long past, but to me it was the key to adventure. The best time of year for biking on the farm was late autumn, when the crop was harvested and well-worn tracks crossed the fields from the grain truck’s many trips. It was more appealing than circles around the farmyard, and it was safe.

When I finished business college and started a job in my hometown, my first major purchase was a bicycle. It was a three-speed beauty. I equipped it with the speedometer and headlight that I had bought with my weekly allowance for the old bike and rode around town every evening. Once a week or so I would ride the three miles to the farm, mow the lawn, and return to my boarding place in town.

I continued to use my bike through the first years of marriage, but when we moved to Regina, I sold it. City streets were not in my comfort zone.

Almost ten years later, we were living in a small town again and I was missing my bike. A friend gave me a bicycle that she never used. I quickly took to using it on a daily basis.

That bike moved with me to Alberta, where I used it for pleasure, for riding with my daughter, and for commuting to work. Eventually it wore out.

Another ten years went by before we took up our current lifestyle. I began thinking about a bicycle again. My kids found one at an auction last spring. It was worn, and not the correct size, but it showed me two things: I still enjoyed riding, and I would probably make good use of a bike. I promised myself to purchase a bicycle by April and ride it to work while parked at the Westerner Campground.

We moved to the campground on April 20 with no bike. On April 22 my husband took me to Edmonton, where I tried out a couple mountain bikes and a folding bicycle. I fell in love with the “foldie”.

No complaints of taking my bike, where to put it, or how inconvenient it is. I can fold my bike and put it in the hatch of my car!

The weather was wet, cold and windy during much of our stay, but I was able to ride to work for two or three days of each week. My Mother’s Day gift was a bicycle computer, and according to it, my new friend has taken me about 60 km. now. I don’t go as fast as I used to, but the pleasure is the same.

I anticipate many hours of riding along bike trails and through campgrounds, exploring each new surrounding. Merrily we will roll along!