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.
What a beautiful post, Mark….thanks so much for sharing it with us here on Loving the Bike today. This is the perfect piece to send us all into the Christmas weekend and it has definitely put a smile on my face. I hope there are a whole lot of bikes under trees this year. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Thank you Darryl. I enjoyed writing it. I hope many kids and adults find a bike under thier tree. (If anyone wants to put a new bike under my tree, I will send you my address!!! lol) Merry Christmas to you and your family and everyone at Loving the Bike.
That is exactly what we did. We bought Zane a bike and I can’t wait to give it to him.
Awesome…..Be sure to take a picture of Zane’s face as he finds that bike under the tree and share it. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Ann.
Thanks Mark, although I like you have a love for the bike and ride with my boys, you have reminded me of my joy as a child discovering new places and friends while riding around my block. What is better than getting on your bike and forgetting all your worries and just riding?
Thanks Paul. I have seen the joy you share while riding with your boys. It is the same as when I’m riding with Kayla. The simple times that kids have riding bikes are too often forgotten. I hope this inspires more people to remember the fun of riding and to get out and ride.
Beautiful and so true!