CityView Magazine

14 | June 2020 14 | June 2020 The Great Bike Revolution O F 2 0 2 0 BY CLAIRE MULLEN F A M I L Y M A T T E R S I will never forget my favorite bicycle. It was a Christmas gi surprise from my grandparents, and I can vividly remember being led down their long hallway, into their garage and discovering my shiny new Schwinn in all her glory – a big, festive bow tied between the handlebars. I was so proud of my sleek new "big-kid" ride. I'd finally graduated from streamers and pink and purple flowers to hand brakes and multi- speeds. My bike came from Hawley's Bicycle World (as has every other bike I've ever owned) and was a fancy, metallic sea green color that shimmered in the sunlight. To a preteen girl growing up in a time before iPads, electric scooters and hoverboards, it was everything. I would love to know how many miles I clocked on that bike. I think it's pretty safe to assume that if you polled folks about some of their fondest childhood memories, time spent riding their bicycles would quickly come to the forefront of the conversation for many. Little neighborhood "biker gangs" travelled in packs, in search of the next big adventure. We knew to come home for supper when it started to get dark. Rites of passage included learning to ride down a curb, then a flight of stairs, riding with no hands, popping a wheelie, pedaling standing up, and balancing while crouching with both feet resting on the crossbar (I do not recommend attempting to demonstrate this to your family at age 34). At the risk of sounding like an old fogie, I'll say that times were simpler back then. Somewhere along the way, many children and families stopped cycling as oen. Is it because we are all just a little too busy for the simpler pleasures in life? Too distracted From our front porch, we've noticed families biking by regularly that in the six years we've lived in our house, we've never seen before. It seems that almost every day, another buddy has unscrewed their trainers and joined the "two-wheel club."

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