When I was growing up the bicycle was more than a mode of transportation or type of sporting equipment, it was freedom. As soon as the snow melted in April my friends and I would get out our bikes, pump up the tires, oil up the chains and take to the road. The best basketball courts were on the grounds of a private school a few blocks away, so that was where we'd head to play. As we got older the perimeter of our travels expanded, the river bank a mile away, the monkey trails through the forrests around the city park, clay tennis courts on the other side of town and eventually even downtown to hang out.
There were a couple of hundred undeveloped acres of property right behind my suburban street back in the 1960's. It was full of criss crossing footpaths that my frineds and I used to turn into a motocross course (for bicyles) and build jumps and gulleys, hairpin turns and obstacles. Pure adventure.
And at every baseball and football practice and game, on the sideline was a huge pile of bikes, the main form of transportation to the field for the players. There was never a parking lot full of mini-vans at the community club. The team just seemed to materialize from every direction coming in on the alleys, the side streets and the main drag.
It was a bike culture for me and my friends right up until we learned to drive.
