I own it.
I can be arrogant.
I am sleek and fast. Or strong and dependable. Or a combination of all.
I can be both utilitarian and graceful. One does not preclude, or exclude, the other.
I can make stress disappear into the wind.
I can transport care to those in need.
I can bring smiles.
I can take a beating, and still, all I need is air. My motor is determination, energy and health.
I can see the world while interacting with it and without destroying it.
I can be improved upon, or not, and what I can do is basically the same.
I am not a taunt. I am encouragement.
I can be healthful and helpful to physicality and mentality.
I can make minds wonder, or create focus. I am that good.
Whether I am inflexible as steal, common as aluminum, or flexible as carbon-I function. I do not need to appear stunning to have a stunning impact.
But stunning, I can be.
More brilliant about my existence, is the improvement I can make in the existence of others. I can take you, I can bring you, I can get away and get you back, I can hurry or dawdle through life. I can take your breath away. I can make you breathe easier. I can make you strain muscles you never knew existed. I can build you up while you break through barriers.
I am a bicycle.
I am just a bicycle.
My value is what moves me.
I am not so arrogant that I cannot recognize the truth of my limitations. I cannot win against a two thousand pound vehicle. No matter it’s condition. No matter it’s color, it’s make, it’s year, it’s “right” to own the road, I cannot win against it. And I have no intention of competing.
Loved this personification. Made me see bicycles in a whole new light and with new respect. Who knew?
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Thank you FictionalKevin. 🙂 I kind of knew 😉
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Very versatile, the bicycle. Great post!
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Thank you Priceless 🙂
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each of us knows our strengths and vulnerabilities and we are stronger for it.
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Truth Beth. Being aware sure makes a difference on how we exist in the world.
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Love this colleen
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Thank you Lynz 🙂
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So cool!
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Ha! I got it a few sentences in, like just before the big reveal. At first I thought you were talking about yourself, but then it just wasn’t adding up!
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😉 It is many layers deep Marissa. 😉
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The humble bike. My first one was too big and used to belong to the paper boy. Makes me want to get up off my behind and get out there. Enjoy your cycling.
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Thank you MW51. I don’t get to ride near as much as I would like to be. But that’s okay. I still have a love affair with biking. 🙂
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“I can make stress disappear into the wind” great line. And “my value is what moves me” another. Love this one! Would make a great bike commercial. Happy weekend. 🙂
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Thank you Paulette!
As an aside, when I was a kid, I used to make up commercials and play them to the mirror in my parents room. 🙂
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Boy – your mind was spinning on this one, Colleen!!! You have never “spoken” so eloquently! It was wheely, wheely good! Love the perspective you took — I agree with Mildred in that it would make a great commercial!
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Oh my gosh Stacey, you chained together a litany of perfect comments here!!!! 😉
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An inanimate object has never been so revered. 😀 Outstanding. Amazing post, ❤
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❤ thank you Tess! 🙂
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Inspiring. Thank you also for the last part, a sobering reminder as to the limitations of the amazingness of even bicycles when going up against the laws of physics. May you remain safe out there, my friend.
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Thank you Russ. I have the utmost respect for any vehicle when I’m on the road. I cannot say that is always returned in kind.
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What a perfectly brilliant reminder of how bicycles are much needed in our community. It is on my bucket list to ride around in Amsterdam, where cyclists and pedestrians can freely roam – although sadly I cannot ride and I’m going to learn again. They say you never forget, I fell and have been fearful ever since. I love how you expose their vulnerability and limitation and yet show how remarkably joyful an experience it is to ride.
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Wouldn’t that be amazing? To ride around Amsterdam….. yes, it would be.
I have been knocked off of my bike by a dog and ended up in the hospital for 3 days. And knocked off by a deer, ER trip but no admissions.
You will remember how. And love it. 🙂
I do have a horrible reaction when on the bike and hearing a dog bark…..
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You were knocked off by a dog and a deer, then ended up in hospital?? Oh my goodness Colleen, that’s scary. I would be scarred, er, well, not to mention my fear of riding a bike. I’m going to remember you saying that I will love riding again – I am working up the courage.
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You will love it. I took a bike ride last night. I would rather ride than not.
Yes, when the dog knocked me off there were some injuries. But all’s well. It did not stop me from riding. 🙂
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wonderful writing Chatter, you slipped from my mail and reader AGAIN, I have refollowed that usually fixes things for a while anyway ❤
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I have no idea what is going on with WP….I keep thinking bloggers have stopped blogging, just to go visit and find they are. Silly ol’ WP.
And thank you!
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You and your bike have a very special relationship, Colleen, so I’m not surprised you can so perfectly write about its feelings and personality! There are more and more bicyclists even in large cities, which amazes me, because as the bicycle seems to clearly understand, it is no match for speeding steel. Nicely written. 🙂
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Thank you Debra. I see a lot of people turning back to the bike. It’s wonderful transportation. It’s healthy. It’s earth friendly. And it’s convenient. I’m sad that our worlds are so spread out now. It’s wonderful to think that most of what we need is reachable by bike. 🙂
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❤️ 🚲
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❤ 😀
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A bicycle is a very valuable tool, wonderful form of exercise and many people in this world would envy having one for their mode of transportation. 😀
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It is a wonderful machine. It can make a difference in many lives in so many different ways. 🙂
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Nice, and sounds like a great bicycle too. Sweetness 🙂
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Right??? 🙂 Ego is not always a bad thing.
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Ego is a necessary part of the self I feel. 🙂
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Indeed!
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