What a delight to read, Jeffrey, as I recalled my own bike-riding. I enjoyed how you interwove your experiences with those of Soseki. Poor man. I wonder what it was that made bike riding so difficult for him.
I was perhaps a year or two younger than you when I learned to ride a bike. The problem, as I see it now, was that the bike was much too big for me and its gears a mystery; nonetheless, I determined to ride it as it was the one functional bike we had. We had only roads to ride on then, on either side of which was lots of bluestone, which cars scattered. Believe me, hitting that bluestone is no fun; it leaves scars. Both of my knees have them. Learning how to drive a car seemed easier (and for that I was required, first time out, on the Capital Beltway!).
E-scooters I will never try. They became quite a fad in the D.C. area, and because of the recklessness with which they were used - all over the lane, going downhill with no hands (we have some very big hills in Arlington), with two people aboard, abandoning them everywhere - the regional governments each started enacting regulations for their use. One company was made to leave the area and take all its scooters with it. Driving behind one was to court an accident. I'm sorry to learn you wiped out but at least it wasn't in traffic.
Thank you, Maureen. I admire the determination you showed in learning to ride a bike against the odds and despite the bluestone and those scars! I think I got off lightly in terms of the e-scooter. I hate to think what could happen in traffic. You're wise not to try them.
Enjoyed this, Jeffrey. Thank goodness bikes have come on a bit since the bone shaker!
Your tumble sounds rather like my son’s one and only encounter with an e-scooter. I wasn’t there to see it - it was while he was at university - but it put him off for good. (He rode a bike aged five, so I don’t know why scooters are so tricky!)
I was put off mopeds for life after coming off one on a dirt track at the top of a mountain in Greece. Sometimes the machine isn’t meant for us!
Thank you, Wendy! Your son is wise to have given up on them. I only rode along quiet backstreets, but the thought of venturing into a busy rode on one is a frightening prospect.
So much to comment on here Jeffrey and your attention to detail is really impressive.
Very clever to toggle back and forth with Soseki and your own experiences.
Even as an adult I occasionally still long for a push-scooter, the kind that is propelled by one leg but I do fear the humiliation of hitting a bump and since I am not keen on wearing a helmet either ... P.S. I loved 'Top Cat!'
Thank you for your kind words, Sue. I can see the temptation of a push scooter too! And great to know you're also a fan of Top Cat. I haven't seen it for decades, but it feels like I was watching it only yesterday...
Jeffrey this was such an enjoyable read. I was quite literally smiling ear to ear, both in the whimsy of Soseki’s and your own mishaps reading bikes and e-scooters, and because the whole piece reminded me of so many of my own childhood experiences riding my bike around the neighbourhood.
How delightful. I, at 31, have never learnt to ride a bike. I know attempts were made when I was little, but there was shouting and impatience and a refusal to let me use training wheels. So, I simply refused. I can't help but laugh at my willful younger self. I'm glad to hear of others that never mastered bike riding.
We had those e-scooters in our city for a while too, but I was never tempted. I foresaw a tumble. They've been banned now, someone drove one drunk and killed a pedestrian.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Evelyn. I like your phrasing, "attempts were made"... 🙂 It seems that e-scooters don't really fit well into the transport ecosystems of most cities.
Oh goodness! Definitely less bounce in our bones as we get older (although more padding in my case). I haven't cycled for years but I was reading something the other day about Edward Elgar's love of cycling and how you might be able to hear the rhythm of his bIke in his music. I like that idea.
Thank you for sharing that information about Elgar. I'm a fan of his music but didn't know about his cycling. I'm actually going to mention him in next week's post.
Awww, kudos for trying something new! Don't be so hard on yourself. The difference between us and them kids who rip around on those things is, they're made of rubber--they'll fall again and again because that's part of the process.
Soseki's troubles remind me of my friend who tried to learn how to ride a bicycle as an adult. We were awestruck that he never learned as a child and he never mastered it, giving up after an afternoon. He thought it would be a good idea to go from bicycle to motorbike. I think he skipped he bicycle and went straight to moto and that didn't work out because out of the corner of his eye he caught a pretty friend and tried to show off.
I'm disappointed to hear that Japan is just as uncivilized as Cambodia as far as pedestrians are concerned. I find it maddening to always be on the lookout for sidewalk traffic and obstacles! GAH! I say. GAHHHHH!
I guess you're right, there's less bounce in our bones as we get older. And what happened to your friend demonstrates the distractions that creep in with adulthood. If Soseki had been less concerned about how he looked to others, he might have done better.
Brings back many memories. Of my first and only attempt to skateboard, well into adulthood but still decades ago, which avoided the level of fiasco only because of my degree of ineptitude. Then there was the bicycle crash off a curb at ten that sent me to the emergency room for stitches. And only 15 years ago I was biking off road in remote Virginia woodlands and went down so hard over slippery leaves, I'm convinced only my helmet prevented a cracked skull and death. Ah, but when all otherwise goes right, it approaches flight!
Starting to skateboard as an adult feels brave! Are you still biking off road? I've never been a biker. My late eldest brother used to tear around the roads of my home county on a huge Kawasaki. Ironically, his early death had nothing to do with his dangerous pursuits.
Ha! I did because at the time I was involved with a woman whose 10-year-old son was an avid skateboarder. Ah, well. I am not still biking off road. When the last of our bikes was stolen in Long Beach, we never replaced them. I think maybe I knew about your brother, as you about my brother, Jeffrey. Memory as uncertain as the resilience of bones by this point.
Ah, the things we do for love! And yes, we have in common the loss of a brother. I was listening to Rameau's Castor et Pollux yesterday (I have a weakness for baroque opera) and the story of brotherly love there I found very moving.
I just gave myself a quick education in Rameau. Since my brother's death, I've been attacned to Catallus's "Ave Atque Vale." I had the chance to share it with a friend who. indeed. traveled, to Spain to spread the ashes of his brother. He was quite moved and thankful to know of it.
I've felt the same attachment to that poem, Jay. Do you know Anne Carson's wonderful translation of it? I also just found out that Aubrey Beardsley also translated it...
Swinburne apparently didn't translate it but wrote his own moving poem of the same title in honour of Baudelaire, as you probably know. It has some wonderful lines.
I was unfamiliar with both the Carson and the Beardsley. Swinburne, of whom I'm not particularly a fan, seems to me grossly prolix and drawing far too much attention to his own poetry for the simple tributary purpose of such a poem. Auden was far briefer on Yeats.
Carson's the classicist, not I, who doesn't know Latin, so I can't speak on those terms, but I find the poem's peculiarities -- in their own right and compared to other translations -- to detract from the poetry and the sentiment. I like the concept of the book in which Carson's translation appears.
Everything is about balance bikes now: bikes without pedals that allow the child to push and steer and brake. Once they master this, adding pedals is an easier next step. Compare that to stabilisers where you practice the pedalling but not the balancing.
I enjoyed this too, Jeffrey - although I am sorry to hear about your tumble from the e-scooter. Your comment/link to London scooters however reminded me about a relatively recent podcast episode from Private Eye about e-bikes and the like in the British capital. Just in case you're interested, you can watch/listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MEkV3AzLIY (the bikes are quite dangerous, apparently!).
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing the link, Sarah! Much appreciated. I guess people have fretted for decades about how to get this kind of transport right. No one seems to have got the perfect answer.
There is something about people on moving/floating contraptions that drives dogs mad, I suspect they think they are witches. Even Bubba goes a bit nuts over scooters. As a child, I had a similar accident with a skateboard on a hill that saw me landing on my head, which would explain much. Fun post, Jeffrey, well done!
Ouch, your skateboard accident sounds worse than mine! And yes, perhaps your explanation of the dog's behaviour is correct. I certainly don't blame it for my own frailty/clumsiness.
The e-scooters were (are?) speed limited to 12kph here in Melbourne. I tried them out and found them acceptable for back streets and good for the steep hill that prevents me visiting a nearby shopping strip, but they aren’t left in stands here, just abandoned wherever and ‘wherever’ never seemed to be within 3 blocks of my apartment building. Possibly just as well, from your travails. I hope you heal up quickly. Poor Soseki, it sounds like he was the victim of malice by the bicycle hire company.
Thank you, Michelle. One scar is persistent but no longer painful. I could see e-scooters could be good for steep hills. There aren't any in this part of Tokyo, but I'm thinking an electric-assisted bike could be useful for me in future moves to hillier areas. I think there may have been some racism at play in the way Soseki was mistreated. But it's also possible that he embellished his woes for effect (he was a writer of fiction after all), and he probably wasn't without a streak of self-pity.
Unmitigated disaster. Ha! What a funny conclusion. Incidentally, I was driving home from an appointment this morning and an e scooter found himself on the highway going 60mph! I couldn’t believe it and kept my distance, anticipating disaster. Other cars were steering clear as well, assuming the rider was either lost or insane or both.
What a delight to read, Jeffrey, as I recalled my own bike-riding. I enjoyed how you interwove your experiences with those of Soseki. Poor man. I wonder what it was that made bike riding so difficult for him.
I was perhaps a year or two younger than you when I learned to ride a bike. The problem, as I see it now, was that the bike was much too big for me and its gears a mystery; nonetheless, I determined to ride it as it was the one functional bike we had. We had only roads to ride on then, on either side of which was lots of bluestone, which cars scattered. Believe me, hitting that bluestone is no fun; it leaves scars. Both of my knees have them. Learning how to drive a car seemed easier (and for that I was required, first time out, on the Capital Beltway!).
E-scooters I will never try. They became quite a fad in the D.C. area, and because of the recklessness with which they were used - all over the lane, going downhill with no hands (we have some very big hills in Arlington), with two people aboard, abandoning them everywhere - the regional governments each started enacting regulations for their use. One company was made to leave the area and take all its scooters with it. Driving behind one was to court an accident. I'm sorry to learn you wiped out but at least it wasn't in traffic.
Thank you, Maureen. I admire the determination you showed in learning to ride a bike against the odds and despite the bluestone and those scars! I think I got off lightly in terms of the e-scooter. I hate to think what could happen in traffic. You're wise not to try them.
Enjoyed this, Jeffrey. Thank goodness bikes have come on a bit since the bone shaker!
Your tumble sounds rather like my son’s one and only encounter with an e-scooter. I wasn’t there to see it - it was while he was at university - but it put him off for good. (He rode a bike aged five, so I don’t know why scooters are so tricky!)
I was put off mopeds for life after coming off one on a dirt track at the top of a mountain in Greece. Sometimes the machine isn’t meant for us!
Thank you, Wendy! Your son is wise to have given up on them. I only rode along quiet backstreets, but the thought of venturing into a busy rode on one is a frightening prospect.
So much to comment on here Jeffrey and your attention to detail is really impressive.
Very clever to toggle back and forth with Soseki and your own experiences.
Even as an adult I occasionally still long for a push-scooter, the kind that is propelled by one leg but I do fear the humiliation of hitting a bump and since I am not keen on wearing a helmet either ... P.S. I loved 'Top Cat!'
Thank you for your kind words, Sue. I can see the temptation of a push scooter too! And great to know you're also a fan of Top Cat. I haven't seen it for decades, but it feels like I was watching it only yesterday...
Excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed this.
Thank you!
'Fast and furious', indeed!
Jeffrey this was such an enjoyable read. I was quite literally smiling ear to ear, both in the whimsy of Soseki’s and your own mishaps reading bikes and e-scooters, and because the whole piece reminded me of so many of my own childhood experiences riding my bike around the neighbourhood.
A really well-written and engaging piece. :)
Thank you, Michael! I'm sure my adventure on the e-scooter is a bit tame compared to your skateboarding!
Perhaps, but a falls a fall. None of them are fun. :)
How delightful. I, at 31, have never learnt to ride a bike. I know attempts were made when I was little, but there was shouting and impatience and a refusal to let me use training wheels. So, I simply refused. I can't help but laugh at my willful younger self. I'm glad to hear of others that never mastered bike riding.
We had those e-scooters in our city for a while too, but I was never tempted. I foresaw a tumble. They've been banned now, someone drove one drunk and killed a pedestrian.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Evelyn. I like your phrasing, "attempts were made"... 🙂 It seems that e-scooters don't really fit well into the transport ecosystems of most cities.
Unfortunately not. There needs to be another, separate pavement for them.
Oh goodness! Definitely less bounce in our bones as we get older (although more padding in my case). I haven't cycled for years but I was reading something the other day about Edward Elgar's love of cycling and how you might be able to hear the rhythm of his bIke in his music. I like that idea.
Thank you for sharing that information about Elgar. I'm a fan of his music but didn't know about his cycling. I'm actually going to mention him in next week's post.
Awww, kudos for trying something new! Don't be so hard on yourself. The difference between us and them kids who rip around on those things is, they're made of rubber--they'll fall again and again because that's part of the process.
Soseki's troubles remind me of my friend who tried to learn how to ride a bicycle as an adult. We were awestruck that he never learned as a child and he never mastered it, giving up after an afternoon. He thought it would be a good idea to go from bicycle to motorbike. I think he skipped he bicycle and went straight to moto and that didn't work out because out of the corner of his eye he caught a pretty friend and tried to show off.
I'm disappointed to hear that Japan is just as uncivilized as Cambodia as far as pedestrians are concerned. I find it maddening to always be on the lookout for sidewalk traffic and obstacles! GAH! I say. GAHHHHH!
I guess you're right, there's less bounce in our bones as we get older. And what happened to your friend demonstrates the distractions that creep in with adulthood. If Soseki had been less concerned about how he looked to others, he might have done better.
Brings back many memories. Of my first and only attempt to skateboard, well into adulthood but still decades ago, which avoided the level of fiasco only because of my degree of ineptitude. Then there was the bicycle crash off a curb at ten that sent me to the emergency room for stitches. And only 15 years ago I was biking off road in remote Virginia woodlands and went down so hard over slippery leaves, I'm convinced only my helmet prevented a cracked skull and death. Ah, but when all otherwise goes right, it approaches flight!
Starting to skateboard as an adult feels brave! Are you still biking off road? I've never been a biker. My late eldest brother used to tear around the roads of my home county on a huge Kawasaki. Ironically, his early death had nothing to do with his dangerous pursuits.
Ha! I did because at the time I was involved with a woman whose 10-year-old son was an avid skateboarder. Ah, well. I am not still biking off road. When the last of our bikes was stolen in Long Beach, we never replaced them. I think maybe I knew about your brother, as you about my brother, Jeffrey. Memory as uncertain as the resilience of bones by this point.
Ah, the things we do for love! And yes, we have in common the loss of a brother. I was listening to Rameau's Castor et Pollux yesterday (I have a weakness for baroque opera) and the story of brotherly love there I found very moving.
I just gave myself a quick education in Rameau. Since my brother's death, I've been attacned to Catallus's "Ave Atque Vale." I had the chance to share it with a friend who. indeed. traveled, to Spain to spread the ashes of his brother. He was quite moved and thankful to know of it.
I've felt the same attachment to that poem, Jay. Do you know Anne Carson's wonderful translation of it? I also just found out that Aubrey Beardsley also translated it...
Swinburne apparently didn't translate it but wrote his own moving poem of the same title in honour of Baudelaire, as you probably know. It has some wonderful lines.
I was unfamiliar with both the Carson and the Beardsley. Swinburne, of whom I'm not particularly a fan, seems to me grossly prolix and drawing far too much attention to his own poetry for the simple tributary purpose of such a poem. Auden was far briefer on Yeats.
Carson's the classicist, not I, who doesn't know Latin, so I can't speak on those terms, but I find the poem's peculiarities -- in their own right and compared to other translations -- to detract from the poetry and the sentiment. I like the concept of the book in which Carson's translation appears.
Beardsley's I quite liked!
Everything is about balance bikes now: bikes without pedals that allow the child to push and steer and brake. Once they master this, adding pedals is an easier next step. Compare that to stabilisers where you practice the pedalling but not the balancing.
Thank you, James. It looks like things have changed a lot. Perhaps I need a balance bike…
Great read, Jeffrey. Definitely want to read this from Soseki soon! Have only read Kokoro and his modernist eye is so lovely to inhabit.
I enjoyed this too, Jeffrey - although I am sorry to hear about your tumble from the e-scooter. Your comment/link to London scooters however reminded me about a relatively recent podcast episode from Private Eye about e-bikes and the like in the British capital. Just in case you're interested, you can watch/listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MEkV3AzLIY (the bikes are quite dangerous, apparently!).
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing the link, Sarah! Much appreciated. I guess people have fretted for decades about how to get this kind of transport right. No one seems to have got the perfect answer.
There is something about people on moving/floating contraptions that drives dogs mad, I suspect they think they are witches. Even Bubba goes a bit nuts over scooters. As a child, I had a similar accident with a skateboard on a hill that saw me landing on my head, which would explain much. Fun post, Jeffrey, well done!
Ouch, your skateboard accident sounds worse than mine! And yes, perhaps your explanation of the dog's behaviour is correct. I certainly don't blame it for my own frailty/clumsiness.
The e-scooters were (are?) speed limited to 12kph here in Melbourne. I tried them out and found them acceptable for back streets and good for the steep hill that prevents me visiting a nearby shopping strip, but they aren’t left in stands here, just abandoned wherever and ‘wherever’ never seemed to be within 3 blocks of my apartment building. Possibly just as well, from your travails. I hope you heal up quickly. Poor Soseki, it sounds like he was the victim of malice by the bicycle hire company.
Thank you, Michelle. One scar is persistent but no longer painful. I could see e-scooters could be good for steep hills. There aren't any in this part of Tokyo, but I'm thinking an electric-assisted bike could be useful for me in future moves to hillier areas. I think there may have been some racism at play in the way Soseki was mistreated. But it's also possible that he embellished his woes for effect (he was a writer of fiction after all), and he probably wasn't without a streak of self-pity.
Unmitigated disaster. Ha! What a funny conclusion. Incidentally, I was driving home from an appointment this morning and an e scooter found himself on the highway going 60mph! I couldn’t believe it and kept my distance, anticipating disaster. Other cars were steering clear as well, assuming the rider was either lost or insane or both.
Goodness, 60mph on an e-scooter? my vote is for it being insanity.