I love the pace of bicycles. Perfect for exploration, my personal history is intertwined with the bicycles of my life. Learning how to ride at a fairly young age, I first discovered my neighborhoods on the banana-seat. When I turned 9, my parents wanted to go camping and mountain biking with me... I never really did a lot of mountain biking, but when I outgrew that bike, I got another mountain bike simply because that's what I knew. That one lasted me all the way to my second year of college, when it was stolen from a locked garage that it was locked to. Boo to Eugene thieves.
My love of the bicycle didn't become apparent until I visited Kyoto. Somewhat overwhelmed with the humanity and busy-ness of the city, it wasn't until I extensively rode around with my Japanese friend that I was able to understand what Kyoto was about. From that point on, the rest is 'history.' I came back, enthused about road biking. My friend introduced me to fixies, as well as the culture of road and cyclocross racing.
Now I read, watch, and participate in everything I can that is bike related. Kazuma and I are currently planning our trip across the states, which will happen when we both graduate in a year and a half. I also dream of somehow building my own frame to create my ideal fixie... one thing at a time, though!
*the above drawing is of the precursor to the bicycle; the velocipede, which had no pedals
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