In one of my irregular visits to Bikeforums, I noticed in a post at the top of a thread, that Neil, aka "The Historian," a rather complex and intense peronality, and by his work, a writer, had added the following to his signature.
"Bicycling is, in a sense, a test of courage. On a bicycle, there's little that can go wrong that isn't traced to the rider. The bike needs to be kept in condition. The rider needs to be in condition. The rider needs to be properly equipped, and skilled enough to handle the bike. Unlike an automobile, the bike becomes an extension of the rider. My bike becomes a metal part of my body, my spirit, my being. It may be possible for a coward to ride a bike, but not to ride it well."
— Neil, aka the Historian
The professional journalist in me, stopped reading, clicked into the google bar in my browser and typed in the first few words of the quote in an attempt to discover which literary giant might have been the author. The search came up empty handed: No John Updike, no Winston Churchill, no David Feherty or P.G. Wodehouse; so I read on and discovered, you know what? the author is Neil himself. Well how about them apples.
Congratulations Neil on a tremendous trope, turn of phrase, and if it were positioned elsewhere, an epigraph.
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Gee, I did something write, err, right? :-)
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