Howard — Cycling into spring

Many years ago, when my nephew was twelve years old and living in New Hampshire, he traveled to New York to spend spring break. The evening he arrived, we sat outside and had dinner at a café just off Third Avenue. His eyes lit up when a man delivering food and riding a bicycle rode past:

"Look, there's a chef on a bicycle."

We both laughed and I often think of his remark and it always brings a smile.

Spring has arrived and that means there are many more people riding bicycles. In New York we have a citywide bike program allowing one to pick up a bicycle on one side of Manhattan and drop it off on the other. Crosstown traffic is dense and having two wheels makes it much easier to maneuver your way. Now it isn't unusual to notice people, even at a chamber concert at Lincoln Center, discretely carrying a bicycle helmet.

Last year when the bike room in my building was being renovated, I had my bike shipped to Laconia. It needed a tune-up and a few adjustments and I dropped it off at MC Cycle & Sports downtown. They were very helpful in handling all the adjustments and then helping me with the seat alignment so it was ready to ride.

I called Kale Poland, the manager of MC Cycle, this morning and asked about the cycling community in the Lakes Region. "Cycling has always been a strong community, initially because of the triathlons. Three of the largest triathlons are in New England. The Timberman Triathlon on Lake Winnipesauke attracts about 2,500 people as participants and we work on many of the bikes."

This is the eleventh summer for MC Cycles and the shop has expanded again into larger space on Main Street.

I have walked, but not ridden on the WOW trail and look forward to exploring as there is no better way to feel the terrain and take in the landscape then on a bike. 
Hoping to pedal beyond the Lakes Region, I have discovered that the New Hampshire Department of Transportation has bike maps available by region and I have already printed out a few routes.

Thinking about planning a bicycle trip made me curious about when and where the bicycle was invented. According to what I found through a Google search, there isn't one answer. A number of European countries seem to take credit and of course it can be traced back to the first vehicle that had wheels. I wonder what will be next? Don't you?

Elizabeth Howard's career intersects journalism, marketing and communications. Ned O'Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited, will be published in May 2016. She is the author of A Day with Bonefish Joe, a children's book, published by David R. Godine. She lives in New York City and has a home in Laconia. You can send her a note at: Elizabeth@laconiadailysun.com