What A Great Run We've Made

Thirty-one years on April 2 since we made our first lease payment on Bodfish Bicycles and Quiet Mtn. Sports. We moved across the street nine years later, purchased a building that had previously catered to automobiles. Independant bicycles dealers are on the ropes, as are most independant small businesses. Big Box, catelog and Internet based sellers have won the customers. The corporate suppliers are struggling to live up to the arrangements they promised their Asian 'overlords'. So, they really don't care as much as they used to about America's privately owned bicycle shops. In fact, they are working as hard as they can to cancel the independant bicycle dealer. The Trek Corporation is buying up the larger college- town shops and they're selling their wares through their professionally designed websites, sometimes at lower prices than they charge their small dealers. None of it makes sense to me. I suppose everyone can learn to fix their own bicycle challenges on YouTube. We did perform services from our hearts and with skilled hands and alert minds for over three decades...and that makes me proud.

Pranayama and Foot Twiddling, On My Bicycle

My bicycle rides have been short but frequent this Winter. Two miles or twenty miles can provide plenty of time for deep breathing and meditation. Smooth pedaling and less effort feels right. I'm thinking that riding my e-assist 'fitness bike' has taught me to do less pushing and more gliding. I'm realizing that I've experienced a certain degree of 'hill dread' over these last ten years. However, I've always said that 'I love hills'. Fitness bicycles (flat-bar road bikes) with liberal gearing have always allowed me to enjoy climbs. Class 1 electric-assist bicycles (no throttle) have encouraged better breathing and a more relaxed mind while cranking upward. Riding bicycles for 70+ years seems natural and safe. I prefer cycling over walking, running or driving. It's always been my favorite means of locomotion. I am hoping to continue cycling well into my eighties. Better breathing and smoother rolling should help guarantee hundreds of miles of two-wheel adventures in the years to come.