I recently sold my mountain bike, and had been looking for a replacement for it. I have been unable to find the one that I want, a reasonably priced steel hardtail, so I have decided to name it Dulcinea. However, I have been thinking about buying a different kind of bike for a while. On Saturday, I bought it: A Bianchi S.A.S.S. A full chrome steel single speed.
Yesterday I spent about an hour riding in circles, up and down the street, doing wheelies, and just generally screwing around. Just like I used to when I was a kid, when entire days would go by and all I did was ride my bike. I wasn’t trying to maintain a certain speed, or a certain heartrate. I didn’t have a goal to achieve. I was just riding my bicycle.
And it was fun.
I wasn’t thinking about work, or family problems, or school, or anything at all. One of the girls from across the way came out and asked me what I was doing. I told her I was riding my bike. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me that she was waiting for her Dad to take her to her lacrosse game, followed by a soccer game, followed by her sister’s lacrosse game. After she and her Dad left, I rode for a while longer.
I don’t think I have had that much fun on a bike in years. This is what riding is supposed to be.