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.
I have great admiration for anyone who rides a bicycle in this day and age of everyone being in such a constant hurry, I applaud your bravery Jeffrey! I certainly would not have attempted riding anything two wheeled in any major city here in France, never mind an E-Scooter!
I did, however, own several of the 'bone-shakers' you speak of in my youth, I also still own the scars gained from the learning to ride them. I remember every pothole and bump in the lane leading to the farm I grew up on. And, to this day, they have seen neither tarmac or concrete.
Thank you, Susie! I don't think I feel very brave, though… I am trying to avoid rushing aorund too much, however.
From memory, our farm lane had to be improved when the old system of leaving milk churns to be collected on the road, a system I still remember, changed to one involving a bulk tank which had to be emptied direclty into a tanker which had therefore to drive down to the farm. The tankers needed (or said they needed) a better surface than our old rough stone and dirt lane.
You made me laugh more than once, Jeffrey. I didn't know you also had a gift for humor writing. More of this, please.
Your story is very timely as I'm currently reading "French Revolutions" about an Englishman - a self-confessed lazy-ass - who decides to cycle the course of the Tour de France (3,630 km). You can imagine what follows.
On the home front, I borrow my wife's bike two or three mornings a week to do some grocery shopping. It's just an excuse to ride a bike, which I love.
Confession: I never learned to ride a two-wheeler. After falling off a bike with training wheels, I was too timid to try again. In my 40s I once hired someone to teach me but my heart and courage were not in it. And at my present age, I shouldn’t be risking falls. E-scooters? A menace. I wonder how many serious accidents they cause.
Four wheels good, two wheels bad… I think you're wise to keep away from bicycles now and yes, e-scooters can be a hazard to others. But I also felt very vulnerable while riding one, so the chances of things going wrong one way or another seem pretty high.
This was such an interesting read! Thoroughly enjoyed it! In my book (Identity and Gender and Teaching English in Japan) I mention that Soseki complained that his English listening and speaking skills were inadequate when he went to England, because by the 1880s, language education had declined and all classes were being taught in Japanese (compared to the earlier part of the Meiji Era).
Thank you, Diane! That's a fascinating insight into Soseki's preparation (or lack of it) for his time in the UK. I guess some of those lessons are still being learnt...
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.
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.
I have great admiration for anyone who rides a bicycle in this day and age of everyone being in such a constant hurry, I applaud your bravery Jeffrey! I certainly would not have attempted riding anything two wheeled in any major city here in France, never mind an E-Scooter!
I did, however, own several of the 'bone-shakers' you speak of in my youth, I also still own the scars gained from the learning to ride them. I remember every pothole and bump in the lane leading to the farm I grew up on. And, to this day, they have seen neither tarmac or concrete.
A wonderful, nostalgic read.
Thank you, Susie! I don't think I feel very brave, though… I am trying to avoid rushing aorund too much, however.
From memory, our farm lane had to be improved when the old system of leaving milk churns to be collected on the road, a system I still remember, changed to one involving a bulk tank which had to be emptied direclty into a tanker which had therefore to drive down to the farm. The tankers needed (or said they needed) a better surface than our old rough stone and dirt lane.
You made me laugh more than once, Jeffrey. I didn't know you also had a gift for humor writing. More of this, please.
Your story is very timely as I'm currently reading "French Revolutions" about an Englishman - a self-confessed lazy-ass - who decides to cycle the course of the Tour de France (3,630 km). You can imagine what follows.
On the home front, I borrow my wife's bike two or three mornings a week to do some grocery shopping. It's just an excuse to ride a bike, which I love.
Confession: I never learned to ride a two-wheeler. After falling off a bike with training wheels, I was too timid to try again. In my 40s I once hired someone to teach me but my heart and courage were not in it. And at my present age, I shouldn’t be risking falls. E-scooters? A menace. I wonder how many serious accidents they cause.
Four wheels good, two wheels bad… I think you're wise to keep away from bicycles now and yes, e-scooters can be a hazard to others. But I also felt very vulnerable while riding one, so the chances of things going wrong one way or another seem pretty high.
This was such an interesting read! Thoroughly enjoyed it! In my book (Identity and Gender and Teaching English in Japan) I mention that Soseki complained that his English listening and speaking skills were inadequate when he went to England, because by the 1880s, language education had declined and all classes were being taught in Japanese (compared to the earlier part of the Meiji Era).
Thank you, Diane! That's a fascinating insight into Soseki's preparation (or lack of it) for his time in the UK. I guess some of those lessons are still being learnt...
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.