My bike - isn't it awesome?

OK, admit it - you covet my wheels. It's ok, I've actually been stopped while out on a bike ride and asked where I got my bike. (For those of you who are curious, I got it last year at the Richardson Bike Mart.) http://bikemart.com/ But that's not important. What is important is my bike and springtime. This is such a perfect time of year to get back out and ride. The sun is shining and the temperatures are darn near perfect... how can one resist sneaking out of work a little early, getting out on the bike and pedaling away all your cares? I have to say, bicycling is my very favorite form of exercise. (With the possible exception of a brisk walk in autumn, right when folks start to light fires in their fireplaces for the first time. That is a magical time in our neighborhood with the anticipation of crisp weather and getting the sweaters out of their summer hiding places!) Bike riding has always been the best anticipation of summer for me. I remember as a little girl that when it got warm enough to go bikeriding, it meant that summer couldn't be that far away.

Of course, I don't want to rush into summer because I absolutely love the springtime. So many wonderful things are happening in my neighborhood right now. The flowers are coming out, the trees are in full pollenation (ah-choo!), and the grass is turning from winter brown to springtime green.

"Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." ~James E. Starrs

Maybe that, in its essence, is the real reason I like to hop on my bike. It just doesn't seem possible to be sad while biking. My mind becomes very free - I can think (or not think) whatever I choose. I am influenced so much by what I see. I notice more things when I am on a bike. The world's pace slows down just a little. I am more impressed, surely, by small changes in terrain. Until I rode a bicycle through it, I was not aware so much of the hilliness of my neighborhood. I think that in a car, it all seemed kind of flat to me. Not so!

"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." ~John F. Kennedy

I know that there will be a time when my body will no longer allow the lovely simple bike ride. My knees may not cooperate or at some point I may not be capable of the balance required to move about on a bike. I used to live my days on a bicycle as a child, and now as a "woman of a certain age" I have not got as much time as I would like in my day for such simple things. I am moving toward working it in more often though, and for that I am grateful.

If you are reading this and you have a bicycle, go out and reacquaint yourself with that lovely form of transport. It is the best time of year for riding, and it will certainly enrich your day.

Happy biking!

Photos copyright Andrea Harman 2010