My Dad was born in 1940. Growing up his family did have a car but they only used it on Sundays, the original Sunday drivers. He remembers that everyone got around on bikes and his first bike of his own was an old butcher's bike that his father had re-sprayed in black paint for him. It was a heavy old thing with a huge flat tray on the front for meat deliveries but it changed Dad's life. Suddenly he had freedom. He could get out and about under his own pedal power and he never looked back.
Sadly bikes have fallen out of everyday life. As parents we are afraid for our children to ride in the road and many kids today can't even ride without training wheels until they are six years or older. Bike riding is a great activity for the whole family which costs nothing after the initial purchase price. Children can happily learn to ride in the safety of our many parks but once they have learned the ropes parents should not be afraid to take them riding along the many designated bike paths this country has developed.
My family's favourite bike ride is to catch the Bulimba Cross River Ferry to Teneriffe and from there we cycle along the river to New Farm Park, Brisbane. It's not a long ride but it's great fun and has the carrot of a coffee and ice-cream at the end to keep us going on the way home after a play in the park.
