For the academic year 1995-96, I lived in Goettingen, a medium sized college town in central Germany. I somehow just found myself remembering a bike ride I took with my dad to a tiny residential village about 10km south of the city, primarily on bike paths. I also remember the crappy bike that I had there, which took me all over the city for the entire year. I rode in the rain/snow, in the day/night, and I never worried about the bike. It was 50DM (maybe $30) and with an untrued rear wheel, what could really get worse?
I think about the serious attention I give to bikes these days, and yet I certainly don’t ride as much as I did back in college. But as I was looking at the map of Goettingen I saw an entire forested area that i had never known was there (Naturpark Hann Muenden). If I were doing the same thing now, I can guarantee you that my bike would be nicer, but also that I would have explored that area by now. I would have ridden all over that crazy country. A host family that I visited once a month lived a mere 14km away and yet i never rode that. That seems so odd to me now. I also think about all the wonderful hills around the East Bay in California (where i went to college) and how I never took rides around there. Just hiking trips.
I guess the point of this post is to recognize that I have changed and while I gladly go on a 50 mile bike around the Boston area, I also realized the missed opportunity of exploring these areas. Luckily, it’s not like I was sitting on my ass: instead of riding in a saddle, I was dancing through the night, acting in theater, meeting tons of people, hiking in Big Sur, exploring life in a different way. no regrets!