Two Wheels To Nowhere

The Old Man and I enjoyed an evening ride from their house in Wyevale down to the shores of Georgian Bay. The sun was setting over Blue Mountains across the bay as a young family cooled their feet in the still chilly waters of Wymblewood Beach. My dad’s body is aging and he is a little slower this year than last. However, his spirit remains young and it is that spirit that continues to gets him onto the bike each day, depite his 80+ years.

As we pedaled through the warm spring air, I heard stories of the Sturmey-Archer three-speed he bought off a college classmate in Holland “for a song”, and regularly rode it home from Deventer to Schijndel, stopping along the way to visit his girlfriend, “not Jeanneke”. I told dad that I *still* ride a Sturmey-Archer three-speed myself; it’s one of my “pet” older bikes that I just can’t put down. As we pedaled closer to home, we chatted further about tires, bearings, lube, derailleurs and muscle conditioning.

I realized, yet again, that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.