The Bicycle and Me

Hi 👋

I don’t remember when I got my first bike. It was a four-wheeled bike that I only remember, and I had a hard time getting on it at first. I guess I didn’t have that carefree feeling of being a kid. Even a four-wheeled bike could scare me. Then it fell on three wheels. I don’t know why we applied this tactic, but I can say that my anxiety was gone a little bit. After a while, I could now go on two wheels.

If I remember correctly, I was cycling on flat roads in the first days. At that time, there were no proper bike paths in Ünye. (There is about 10km of bike paths as of now.) For a child riding on proper two wheeled bike, bumps or potholes could seem dangerous. While I was walking around the neighborhood with my friends (some of them older than me), I would get off the pits or bumps, pass my bike and try to catch up with them.

I don’t know what birthday it is, but on one of my birthdays, my father bought me a bicycle. It’s already my favorite. Sometimes I miss those days when I remember the time I spent on that bike. I think, cycling gives the rider a great deal of freedom. Once a vehicle that moves with your energy and control. It’s totally up to you. Secondly, since it is a small vehicle, you can go wherever you want whenever you want. Finally, it is a complete meditation tool for me as you travel alone and have to pay attention to the road. Of course, I didn’t notice this when I was a kid. After my 30s, when I started cycling 2–3 times a week, even if not as before, my awareness and interest in cycling started to increase.

When I first started cycling, I used to get off the bike to cross the bumps and pass it by hand. I had to speed up and drive a little more dangerously to keep up with my friends. That’s how I got used to cycling faster and more carefully. I don’t know why I still bike as fast as I can. Of course, compared to Ender the boy, I am more careful and I don’t speed where I shouldn’t (sometimes) Speed makes me feel that I am more free while riding a bike. It is very good for me to feel the wind hitting my face while riding a bike and to hear the sound of the wind in my ears. As I speed, these feelings get stronger and I want to speed more until I get tired 🥲

While riding a bike used to be a summer fun when you were a kid, it starts to integrate into daily life as you get older. As a kid (and still is to me) I mostly biked for fun and spending time with friends. As time passed, cycling started to enter into my life, especially after I moved to Ünye. Since I work from home these days, I continue to use the bike for sports and entertainment, even though I hardly use it for my daily trips.

After I started living in Istanbul, I moved away from cycling, even though I didn’t know why. I don’t want to ride a bike at all, maybe the traffic and crowds scared me. I can say that I never rode a bike during my time there. Just before the pandemic, an old colleague of mine was selling his bike for cheap, and I bought it just so I could ride it, but it wasn’t very fortunate to ride it either. Now I’m looking at it, I wish I had pushed harder to ride a bike. On the weekends, I could take a bike rack to my car, go down to the bike paths on the beach and cycle there. Of course, it’s past time now.

After a few rides I realized that I now want to cycle for long hours almost every day. With the nice weather, I started cycling almost every other day. I was a little afraid of dogs before, but when I realized that they did nothing to cyclists (at least until now), I continued to ride a little more comfortably.

At first, I wasn’t doing much. After warming up a bit, I started using it in the safety lane where the bike path ends, but since I knew that it was dangerous without a helmet, I immediately bought a helmet and started to continue my rides safely with a helmet. Meanwhile, I started speeding. I couldn’t go very fast because pedestrians could use those roads on the bike path anyway, but when I got to the highway, I started to think that all roads were mine. I also noticed that the wind behind you is much more pleasant.

My personal best record in bike

Over the last few months I’ve realized that cycling is good for me, especially going farther and farther each time and back home. My personal record at the time of writing this article is 25 km. Of course, I do this all at once without taking a break. I can go a long way by taking a break, but these days I think I need to gain a little more condition. Of course, apart from these, as I said before, I feel very free and alone while riding my bike. This feels so good to me throughout the entire trip. Also, getting tired after a long time on the bike and coming home, a nice shower and a meal. Then everything becomes much better at work.

Bicycle is one of the travel tools that can be easily integrated into life. Although it requires some effort, it is still a very valid means of transportation or entertainment. Of course, there are all kinds of bicycles nowadays, but what I want to tell you is the driving experience and my experiences in the process. I’m sure you too have feelings while cycling or before and after. I would be happy if you share. At least I know maybe I’m not alone :)

Love ❤️