1. On forgetting how to enjoy cycling
“A bicycle, often called a bike, is a human-powered, pedal-driven,
single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame,
one behind the other.
A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.”
– Wikipedia
I, like most people, have at least one vivid memory relating to bicycles or cycling as a kid. I still remember the anxious waiting during springtime for the snow to melt and for the day when the bikes were taken out of winter storage, tuned up and taken for a spin around the block. Back then I did not think bike as means of sport or exercise. It was means to get quickly from place to another and in our time when kids could roam at will, means to explore and taste a bit of freedom.
It did not matter if one friend had a single speed rust-bucket and the other a modern hybrid, we just got around together and it was fun. During summer holidays I used to take longer rides on my own and Dad took me for weeklong treks every year. I still reminisce those long weeks on the bike loaded with camping gear very fondly, especially the feeling of achievement after particularly strenuous day or after realising that never in my life had I done such a distance on one go.
Bike was means to move and source of fun back then but then something happened, or many something’s. I got a new bike to replace the ageing Nishiki Bombardier. A shining new hybrid GT. By all accounts it should have been a good bike but I still remember how awkward and uncomfortable it was from the first go. It took the joy out of biking and as that coincided with getting a driver’s license, start off studies (beer parties and, well, studying) and commuting with unlimited transport ticket. The bike spent more and more of time in the storage gathering dust and frankly I did not feel like jumping on the bike for fun anymore.
I can honestly say that I forgot about biking altogether. I still had the GT but I did not want to use it casually or for leisure. I used it for sports only, with sweat on the brow. Not very succesfully I must say,
Fast forward to my mid 20´s and I thought that getting back to the saddle would be nice idea and maybe my significant other would like to try it out again as well. In hindsight I should have done proper research on makings of a good bike and figure what I and S.O. would need. So what happened? I saw an ad on hybrids on the newspaper and got them from a shop known for the price but not for the expertise. We got good hybrid bikes as far as parts go, but as there was no real fitting or testing different types of bikes, they had poor chance to be good bikes for us.
For S.O. the bike was kind of ok and could be adjusted for decent experience. I on the other hand got a worthy replacement to my dust gathering GT. It became evident from the first trip that the biking on the new hybrid Giant would be a challenge indeed. I felt that the driving position was odd, I got shimmies at higher speeds, my hands were numbing after 10k and by god I hated the front suspension as it just added complications to the already awkward cycling. After several summers of adjusting and playing around with the bike, I have a more decent ride. On a good day it is ok, on a bad day it feels that I’m hand standing on a unwieldly unicycle. I use it nowadays because I have learned to enjoy cycling, not because I enjoy cycling that particular machine.
I thought that as I got older I just forgot what the biking was like, perhaps I was out of shape (true to some degree) and perhaps the time had gilded memories of yonder years and summer days on the saddle. Over the years we went on sporadic rides during summertime, tried trekking (miserable fail despite the usual comfort gadget shopping) and I even did a bit of sporty commuting. I just could not bring myself to enjoy it at all anymore.
Onwards a few years and I am a reformed man. Why? Well, I found myself and S.O. in the land of channels, windmills and bicycles…
