31 July 2011

i love my bike


this is my 1950s bike. purchased in vauxhall, south london. its been, well everywhere with me. done many miles. one trip, i cycled 24 miles in the july heat in spain, stupidly, a dip in the pool on the return journey was much needed. cycled up hills, one steep hill near crystal palace, i remember a modern cyclist past me gears and all, half way up the hill i saw him off bike walking, whilst i rode past, without gears, concentrating on my pedal movement, right to the top!!!! pleased.

will i be able to use this lovely machine in the future? probably not, should i pass it one to someone that could? maybe. the idea is to clean her up, make her sparkle, then pass her on. (im still getting used to the idea of passing my unusable things on, a lot less traumatic then saying, getting rid of them).

since january ive had a clean out. lots of treasures, have found new homes. i still feel a tug, a pull, the items dont define me, yet why do i feel so attached?

losing this bike will be a biggy. i love my bike.

6 comments:

coffeecup said...

Hi Em, surely you feel attached because they bring such happy memories. Why would you have to part with your fabulous vintage bike? I'm sure most of us hang on to things we no longer use and so why should you have to clear out your stuff? Maybe one day you will ride out on it again? Treasure it.

The thought of you saying goodbye to the things from your past makes me sad. Then I am very sentimental about this kinda thing. Still have a teddy bear from my pram. Though he's only 3" tall and sits on my wardrobe. A bike I admit, does need more space ;) x

em said...

Hi steph

yeah i suppose so, i wish i was more like a buddhist with no-attachment. i dont mean i dont want to careless about things, but i really hate this awful feeling of not wanting to pass things on, yet i cant use them myself.

aw, i have a teddy bear too, my nan got it for me when i was six months old, jasmine.

im sure this is part of the process though. there is a reason! take care. xxxx

coffeecup said...

That's a very philosophical attitude. I like it! Maybe we should all be less attached to 'stuff' and more inclined towards our own souls and spiritual natures. I'm not quite there yet! I'm sure there is a reason. A time for change and moving on? Wish I lived closer because I'd be begging for that bike. Can imagine riding it in a vintage floral tea dress, straw hat, plimsole shoes and a basket of flowers on the front. Fab! x

em said...

oh steph,

what a lovely vision. you know what i used to have a sunflower tied to the front of the bike, years back.

i wonder if its a western approach to life/things, we earn therefore we own. to dispose of things means we are losing our wealth? i dont know, too much overthinking.

tc. xxx

diver said...

I gave my wife a bike just like that one for a birthday, maybe 20 years ago. Picked it up from a recycler. It was in brilliant condition for its age - mint green with a basket on the front and had the words 'Free Spirit' signpainted on the frame. It was a lovely bike. She hardly used it all though, it ended up leaning against the shed for years, rusting. Beats me.

Interesting conversation with CoffeeCup. I rather think that the value of 'things' lies in their usefulness - if it's not useful nor likely to be useful then it's clutter, that's how I look at it (excluding childhood teddy bears of course!)

em said...

hey diver

i think thats what i would of done, let the bike rot, just to keep it. i still want to keep my bike, yet seems wrong to do so.

like william morris said, useful and beautiful, or some such thing. i like things to have a function and if they are pretty to boot, (or my pretty, doesnt have to be conventional) thats great. hope you well. x