[The Devil’s Gift is taking a break this week. I hope you enjoy this post from August 16, 2020. You may leave a comment whether you commented previously or not. Your comments make my day. And from what I hear many readers appreciate them too. Finally, be sure to check out Paula’s new photo. See link at bottom of page.]
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I write these things at a certain time on a certain day and that certain time this week was threatened by an old friend who wanted to go on a bike ride during my blog writing hours. I know I mustn’t give in to temptation or my work will suffer. It might not get done.
But he is a good friend.
And I do like my bike.
I notice it leaning against the stair rail. It’s a marvel of human ingenuity.
First, you need to invent the wheel.
Wings, fins, webbed feet, and lenses are found in nature. People noticed them and fabricated imitations.
Wheels are not found in nature—unless you count logs, certain stones, or a dung beetle’s prized turd ball, which rolls like a wheel. It’s not likely a caveman saw that and thought “wheel.” The turd ball evoked possibilities, but “wheel” wasn’t one.
The first wheel was fabricated about 6,000 years ago. It was around for millennia before someone thought to affix an axle so two wheels could roll in the same direction. And thus, the cart.
Millennia went by.
And then in 1817 a certain Baron Karl von Drais paired two wheels, front and back, and connected them with a wooden frame, ridiculed as “the dandy horse.” Soon after came pedals, chains, gears, pneumatic tires, aluminum, and the Tour de France.
In the late 19th century bicycling clubs formed in Europe and America. Those elite clubs lobbied for smooth, paved roads. Later, automobiles would hog those roads built for bikes.
The bicycle is the most efficient human-powered means of transportation. There are twice as many bikes as cars.
But it’s more than a marvelous machine.
Experiments done in Uganda, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka show that a bicycle increases a poor family’s household income as much as 35%.
For women, the “noiseless steed” brought liberation and bloomers. Susan B. Anthony called it the “freedom machine.”
“I think the bike has done more to emancipate woman than any one thing in the world,” she said. “I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence. The moment she takes her seat, away she goes, the picture of untrammeled womanhood.”
A bike goes on forever. Friends don’t.
Work can be postponed. Living can’t.
I said yes to my friend.
I took my seat. Away I went. Untrammeled.
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See Paula’s new photo (“A Spring Mint”) on the home page
Susan B. Anthony quote interesting.
I am sure everyone remembers their first bike and the freedom it brought to venture afar. For me it also made delivering newspapers easier.
Hurray for closing the computer or putting down the pen. Living fully is the deepest well of inspiration and fount of understanding. Staying more or less physically fit is essential to a full life. One of the many reasons I live here is how wonderful this place is for walking and hiking exercise. Hurray for using the leisure of retirement to shift the schedule for fun and fellowship.
So glad you chose the bike ride with your friend!
That day, Randy, the Devil and his gifts were definitely “the third wheel.” Your story widely distributed could be the start of a beautiful revolution! “Be in your own life with people who matter most.” Not only is there no substitute, there is no other time.
Was the picture of the bike shown the size of an actual bike?
That’s a photo of an actual bike in a museum. I assume it’s the approximate size of a standard bike today.
Are you the same Lou Cox who is a musician and wanted to play with SODELO in Lewes, DE or you just happen to have the same name?
Maybe the dung beetle turd ball inspired the game of marbles.
Thank you for this history of the wheel and the bicycle. It takes someone
like a Baron to invent a bicycle, don’tcha think? – well-heeled and provided for,
including the time to think and experiment, discover and invent.
Love the word “untrammeled.” Always think of Ed’s father Howard, who made the Wilderness Act a reality, for the rest of us. Untrammeled nature, and women, for world peace!
Early in our marriage, we tried biking together. Michelle gave it up because I always wanted to go 50 miles when she wanted to go 5. Not long after that, I had the chance to buy a 5-speed Schwinn tandem. Michelle agreed that we should buy it. “You go as far as you want. I’ll quit peddling when I feel like it.” She never did quit peddling. We biked 60 miles on her 60th birthday. She never made it to her 61st.