Original designs for the bicycle date back to Da Vinci’s student Giacomo Caprotti but the French probably had more to do with what looks like a modern bike. Where its roots lie mean less than what the whole idea of a bicycle represents. Your first bicycle meant freedom. Freedom to go as far in any direction as you chose. Nothing has changed. It’s still only two wheels and a chain….yet still one of the most efficient forms of human movement ever invented. Balanced between two spinning gyroscopes one’s center of gravity is guaranteed. Once learned, never forgotten. Modern materials and advanced engineering have improved greatly on the original theme and yet the simplicity prevails. It never ceases to amaze me where a mountain bike can transport me. Thirty miles in one day on foot is a real accomplishment. Thirty miles in an afternoon on a mountain bike and you can be home for supper. I find that every day I don’t ride my bike, I wish I had. There are few things in this world that we can do as adults to make us still feel like we’re 8 years old…riding a bike is one of those things; and if everyone in the world occasionally felt 8 years old, our sandboxes would be a lot happier. So, ride more. And next time you do throw a leg over, celebrate the machine.