Monday, May 18, 2009

Aren't Bikes Great?

Something Fat Cyclist posted last week about how upon taking a real road ride after a winter on the rollers, he thought to himself, "Whether on road or mountain, I love riding bikes." has put me into a simple state of waxing enthusiastic about riding my bicycle. For a change, I'm not going to post any pictures, or try to be funny. Instead, this time, I want to try to capture bike love as it has been so well expressed by so many. What follows are a few quotes on cycling that I stole from quotegarden.com... some people are so good at putting it into words that I needn't bother trying on my own. Still, I am writing a blog here, so I'll take a crack at it myself at the end.

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. - H.G. Wells

Cycling is unique. No other sport lets you go like that - where there's only the bike left to hold you up. If you ran as hard, you'd fall over. Your legs wouldn't support you. - Steve Johnson

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

Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia. - H.G. Wells

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. - Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. The airplane simply carries a man on its back like an obedient Pegasus; it gives him no wings of his own. - Louis J. Helle, Jr., Spring in Washington

When I'm riding my bicycle my body sings, and the world I'm moving through, be it gritty or serene, seems to sing along. The bicycle gives to me a unique, soul-feeding music. - Rantwick




Bike Love Springs Eternal, I Guess.



R A N T W I C K

5 comments:

Paul Hastings said...

how about what my randonneur "patron saint" (paul de vivie) had to say:

"After a long day on my bicycle, I feel refreshed, cleansed, purified. I feel that I have established contact with my environment and that I am at peace. On days like that I am permeated with a profound gratitude for my bicycle."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocio

Pfaff said...

Good Post.

This question is off topic, but I read a post of yours a while back (loved the illustrations as well) about buying Ortlieb panniers overseas for cheap. Im planning a cross country tour on a budget and was wondering who you bought them from. A website or any other help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

RANTWICK said...

Paul - very nice quote; that one really hits the nail on the head too.

Pfaff - Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed my silly photoshop efforts! The website I ordered from was outdoorgb.com It looks like the price on my ortliebs has gone up some since I got them.

cafiend said...

The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets.

Christopher Morley

If I can bicycle, I bicycle.

David Attenborough

RANTWICK said...

Cafiend - nice ones... I had heard the Morley one before, but I really like that Attenborough one.

Post a Comment