A Bicycle for Christmas
A Bicycle for Christmas
by Mark Beaconsfield
The Simplest gifts are always the best, and what better gift to give than a bicycle? Its that time of the year again. The season when we see them everywhere. They are on TV, in newspapers, the internet, and department store catalogues. The Top 10 Christmas gifts lists.
Every year they change. The gift of the year comes and goes….from the latest high tech gadgets, Playstations, XBox, Mobile phones to the Tickle me Elmo. But there is one item that constantly makes the list, year after year. A bike!It is that simple. Most kids love to ride a bike! To a child, a bike means so much more than just another toy. It gives them freedom. It can make them and explorer searching for new worlds, A superhero speeding to save the innocent, A race car driver about to win the Grand Prix, or a cyclist tackling the Tour de France. The fun they have on a bike is limited only to their imagination.Children don’t see a bike as a fitness tool. They ride because it is fun. Unlike many toys and gadgets you see these days, where you constantly have to keep buying more things to go with them, bikes are very cheap. It is usually only a one-off cost for a bike (and helmet), but the reward of seeing a child having fun on a bike will last for a long time.As a father, some of my happiest memories are of the times when my children first learnt to ride. The pride you feel when your child gets up the speed and you let go of the bike and watch them doing it for the first time cannot be described, and to see the smile on their face instantly doubles that feeling.
Once you teach your kids to ride, the next thing to do is go riding with them. The greatest times that I have spent with my daughter have been while we’re off riding together. Our chats as we ride along are the best example of quality time spent together, no matter what the subject is. Sometimes along the river, we will ride in silence, listening to the birds, frogs, and other wildlife.
If you are stuck for a gift to buy a child (or adult) this Christmas, buy them a bike. It’s simple, inexpensive, and always rewarding. And, it may just lead to a lifetime of Loving the Bike.
It’s those simple moments on a simple bike that make life fun.
