Here’s the thing about bicycles: they turn you into a 12-year-old. It’s hard for some folks to admit, but there it is. Solid fact. You get on a bike, and every single cell in your body remembers what it was like to be twelve years old. It doesn’t matter what sort of bike you ride, or why you ride, or when you ride, or the manner in which you ride, you become twelve again. It’s just a fact.
You cycle for fitness? That means riding hard and fast…which is what you did when you were twelve. Not all the time, of course, but every 12-year-old on a bike has ridden like the demons of Hell were chasing behind them. It’s fun to ride fast and hard. Sure, sure, sure, you may be genuinely serious about fitness. You may be wearing lycra and Shimano RC9 cycling shoes because adults believe in optimization. You may be measuring stuff (pulse, cadence, average speed, elevation gain, etc.) because adults feel the need to measure stuff and compare results. But down the bone and gristle, you’re riding like you’re twelve–because it’s fun. There’s a weird joy in cycling really really fast.
You cycle for transportation? You’re twelve. Your bike is how you got around when you were twelve. You rode your bike to visit your friends, you rode to school, you rode to the park, you rode to the local market to buy candy or a soda or shoplift cigarettes. Now you’re riding to the office or to a coffee shop to meet friends or to the market for fresh vegetables (and if you smoke, please shoplift your cigarettes; don’t give those fuckers your money). Yes, yes, cycling is an efficient, healthy, cost-effective, environmentally friendly means of transportation, and that’s all very adult…but there’s a part of you that knows you’re riding your bike because it’s fun. You’re twelve.
You ride gravel? You do cyclocross or single tracks? You mountain bike or ride BMX? You’re twelve. You’re riding across the neighbor’s lawn, you’re riding your bike through a construction zone, you’re riding through the neighborhood park, you’re deliberately riding through a puddle, you’re taking your bike where your parents explicitly told you NOT to ride. You’re doing it partly because it’s fun and challenging and partly because your parents told you NOT to ride there. Ask yourself, at what age do kids start being rebellious? Twelve. This is NOT a coincidence.
You need more evidence that cycling makes you twelve? Ask your non-cycling friends (you probably have some) how they feel about cycling in general. Odds are they think it’s…childish. It’s not how adults get around. Adults drive. Adults don’t have time for frivolous stuff like riding bikes. Why can’t you just grow up and act your age? (HINT: because you’re twelve years old.)
Still more evidence? Okay, simple test. Get on your bike. Get it in motion. Now take your feet of the pedals, stick them out straight, and gently swerve left and right and left and right, rhythmically back and forth as you coast. How does that feel? It feels great, doesn’t it. You’re twelve.
You can put on lycra, you can strap a briefcase to your rack. put a bag of groceries in your pannier, you can buy a cargo bike and take your kids to school…doesn’t matter. You know what else doesn’t matter? Your age. If you ride your bike, you become twelve years old again. It just happens. Accept it.
No, don’t just accept it. Celebrate it. You see all those people in cars and pickups and SUVs? They’re locked into adulthood. You? You get to be twelve years old your entire life.
gregfallis.com 
I got that flinging out of the legs horribly wrong when I was about 12. I flung them out backwards and a toe went into the spokes of the back wheel. I met the tarmac very fast in a somersaulting motion with the bike, end of handlebar first, landing on my thigh. That was a bruise. Well, there were a lot of bruises. Ouch!
I am having a major clearcut of my work space. It’s all gone to pot since mum moved to us to live and I had to empty first my barn storage and workshop so she could live in it. And then when I emptied her house there were some things I felt I could not just “get rid of”. It all ended up at work.
The space was a mess. So I then took less care of it and more mess built up. And industrial sized cobwebs around the high ceiling. Now I’m trying to sort it. So I looked at my 2 bikes. One is a vintage 1987 Raleigh Galaxy tourer. They have a bit of value still for enthusiasts because they were a good bike. So I intend to clean it up and see if I can sell it because it’s really skinny tyres and oversized (for me) frame is not really suitable for the rough and broken lanes around me. I will be sad to see it go, but it’s just too big for me and the cross bar does a number on me in quick stops. My ex husband insisted I had to have it that size. This is one of the many reasons why he’s an ex.
But I think I’ve decided to hold onto my other bike for now. It’s a lot younger, just needs an inspection, some oil, a clean and the tyres pumping up. I just can’t quite bring myself to not have a bike, because we all need those moments when we feel 12 again.
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I flung them out backwards
Yeow…big mistake. You’re lucky you didn’t lose a toe.
a vintage 1987 Raleigh Galaxy tourer
Is it possible that it’s a Grenada rather than a Galaxy? Shifters on the down tube? There’s definitely a market for vintage bikes, especially if they’re in moderately good condition. I don’t what it’s like where you live, but here we have cyclists who restore old bikes and ride them in groups.
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There are definitely cyclists here who buy up old bikes, restore and ride them either solo or in groups.
I have made this name mistake before. It’s a Raleigh Granda not Galaxy. Dawes produced a Galaxy model. This bike is identical to mine, apart from my additions. I could not change gear down on the left, it freaked me out. I could do the right side OK. So I had the gear levers moved up to the handlebar area. I also changed the saddle to something more resembling my bum than a razor blade!
https://www.bikebarnworkshop.co.uk/product-page/1987-raleigh-granada-touring-531
It’s still a good looking bike to my eyes. I just can’t see me riding it again.
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Mine also has a narrower profile tyre than the one in this picture.
The gears, change and wheel rims have all rusted up badly. I’m not sure why. It was kept dry and covered. And I don’t recall it looking like I does now when I took it over to my work unit for storing.
If we sort out a shed, and we are finally a bit closer to doing that now, I could set up and restore it myself. Not sure how to remove the rust from the chrome areas though. How to loosen the chain up. I think I’ve heard an old wives tale that soaking rusted parts in old engine oil can take the rust off. Not sure if it’s true.
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This so true! I used to cycle to work before Covid and when I came down our drive and onto the road I got such a thrill from that first big push down on the pedal. I felt directly connected to the road via the metal and rubber of the bike.
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