I was sitting outside a supermarket this afternoon and had the pleasure of engaging in my favourite activity of people watching. The added bonus for me today was that I was sitting outside a supermarket in a country where the humble bicycle is a key player in daily transport. There was ample parking space for bicycles right outside the shop. The bikes flowed in and out. There were mostly women and most of them would have been middle aged and above.
My favourite was the woman dressed beautifully in a long skirt, ankle boots, winter coat and a stylish black hat. I had to do a double take. Initially, I thought it was a young person because of the way she arrived. She had already partly dismounted and was standing on the left pedal only, cruising effortlessly for the last 10 metres or so. She stopped gracefully, right outside the shop and all within the blink of an eye, had placed the bike on its stand. A routine that has been completed many times, I would imagine.
Riding like that is how we used to do it when we were kids. And I recall feeling pretty damn cool when we cruised along in this way.
Riding on 2 wheels under my own steam… yep, that’s the life for me.
cycling/freedom
