Yesterday as I was sitting on the front porch watching Cayle ride his bike around the neighborhood, and watching 2 other boys a little older than him ride their bikes around the neighborhood I began to wonder. At what point does riding a bike go from being a source of freedom and adventure to being taboo and frowned upon? At some point in life, this happens. As every little boy and girl, or most anyway, love to ride bikes. Doesn't usually matter a families socioeconomic status, as in the poorest areas you will often see kids bikes piled up outside of trailers in mobile home parks just as often as you see kids in wealthy neighborhoods on fancy bikes with streamers and bells. The point is that no matter how much money kids families have, the kids all end up with bikes, and in the end, all the bikes do the same thing. They provide a means to allow children to find freedom and adventure.
I don't have any actual stats, but I think everyone will agree that even though as kids most of us have at some point loved to ride bikes, as adults few of us continue to ride bikes. And then even more confusing is that I feel like more adults ride bikes than teenagers do. So at some point between toddler, teenager, and adult that love of freedom and adventure achieved by riding bikes gets lost.
I'm not entirely sure why this happens. It for sure happened to me as well. I didn't get back into bikes until college was almost over. Some possible explanations are of course, cars, peer pressures, family influences, tv, video games, maybe others... It's just sad to me. Freedom and adventure are the very reason I love to ride my bike so much (well that and of course satisfying my natural competitiveness)! Whether its on a long road or mountain bike or a cruiser ride to the park, or riding the BMX track or skate park, they all give the same thing. A sense of freedom and adventure powered by my own 2 legs and the gifts that God has given me. How do we make bicycles a life long habit?
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