From Duncan's City Ride:
- I can still remember the day I rode a bicycle without training wheels. My family lived in Saskatchewan, in a town with more cows than people. I'd been hounding my mother to take the wheels off for days (maybe weeks? I was four, so it could have only been minutes). When the morning came I couldn't wait. It had rained the night before and the potholes in the dirt road were full of brown water. I remember riding down the driveway, making a left turn down the street and then making a right turn directly into a ditch.
As cyclists we all have our rites of passage that leave us feeling as if we've finally done it. That we've finally gone from a casual bicycle rider to a full-fledged cyclist. Whether it is taking a spill on streetcar tracks or finally making it up that hill without stopping, we continue to experience new ways to challenge our bodies and our bicycles as we reach old goals and establish new ones.
Bicycling magazine recently released a list of 100 cycling rites of passage. Now, I can't say I've accomplished many of these, but I'm certain there are many cyclists in Toronto who could cross off most, if not all of them. Here are a few:
01. Realizing that the hill isn't in the way; it is the way
09. When you hang out at the bike shop and no one expects you to buy anything.
19. You notice that someone else has the chain grease on his right calf.
30. You realize you're driving your car as if it's a bike—drafting, looking for holes, getting away from the squirrelly guy.
47. Getting a bike stolen and being surprised at how deeply it hits you.
73. Fixing your bike with a rock.Read the full list here
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