We live in the "Boonies" sometimes this is very apparent.
A neighbor Bob, takes his bike into town, he has a basket on the front of his bike. He uses the basket for groceries, I have seen him with three plastic grocery bags, one in his basket and one each on his handlebars. He is retired and has time so if his wife needs something from the store, he takes off on his bike. I have seen him out on his bike when it was below zero, on those days he wears a scarf around his neck and face and the tail ends of the scarf trail behind him as he pedals down the road. He rides his section of highway several times a week, he is one of those guys that cleans up a section of roadway, collecting the garbage that others throw out of their cars into the ditch. He and his lovely wife have a big blue highway sign that marks their achievement. I feel sorry for him when it rains, although I think he secretly loves to ride in the summer rains. Sometimes when I go to town I see his bike in the ditch, and no Bob, my heart skips a beat...and then I see him walking a mile away. The way some people drive now a days, I would never attempt to ride a bike on the roadway. Some amount of bravery must be needed.
Another elderly gentleman, is almost always seen on his lawn mower. It is his preferred mode of transportation, he has a covered homemade trailer that he totes behind him. I have often wondered, what is in that trailer?
Then there is the elderly gentleman who takes his tractor to church. The church he prefers to attend is about ten miles from his rural home. You have to be really dedicated to go to church by tractor, I would be tempted to just open the good book and read something aloud and call it good. Another small tid bit about this individual, he lives in a barn, he moved in there after his house burned down years ago.
Are all of these country gentleman, making the best of what they have? Or are they making a statement? Are they so poor that they cannot afford a vehicle? Has their old age given way to senility? Two are dependant on fuel, one is dependant on pedal power, non of them are required by law to license or insure their mode of transportation they do not even have to have a drivers license. I have a theory about these men...they are all probably really wealthy, because they don't get all caught up in the material side of life. I bet that none of them have a credit card in their wallet and their homes are paid for, in this day and age ..that is wealthy. Do you know of any elderly gentlemen or women in your area that use a different mode of transportation ? :)
greetings.. here in montana we're a trot away from Amish country so it's not uncommon to see the horse driven mode. Been thinking about it myself for Gazi (endurance horse) and save on ye ol' gasoline :)
ReplyDeletesit down and ride
blessings
gp
I enjoyed this post. Sounds like these folks have a lot of good common sense. Something our youth today is missing. I know men in thier twentys who don't have jobs because they don't have cars, and they live in town!
ReplyDeleteI think it's a man thing. We have an old guy that travels the roads with his Fordson tractor pulling a cart.
ReplyDeleteThere is a woman who lived down the road from us who ALWAYS rides her bike to work. She goes by the back of our house on the bikepath, and we see her all year long. Even in the FREEZING weather. Gotta hand it to her.
ReplyDeleteWrrrrrrmmmmmm!
ReplyDeleteDo your toes hurt?
Well then you have just been run over by one of White Rock's multitude of electric scooters. We are swamped with them, and quite frankly some of the elderly drivers should not be driving. We don't have as many worries about the auto traffic as we do the scooters, those in the grocery aisles, the sidewalks, the banks, the bakeries. They are everywhere, and have no compulsion about running over pedestrians if they wish to get by. Those with scooters can zip past the walking pedestrians at a very high speed, add to that old age, limited vision, hearing, and overall common sense, here comes trouble.
And they do not require a licence.
Jen
What a lovely little post! Most elderly people here walk or use the bus or train as our transport system is well developed and well functioning... Quite a lot of them are to be found striding out in the woods with walking poles in hand!
ReplyDeleteMy husband works 3 miles from us and I have yet to convince him to ride the bike to work. But we are looking at an electric scooter (not a mobility one like mine, but 1 that goes 25 mph) for him to drive to work.
ReplyDeleteI used to know a young man who rode his bike on the coldest of mornings ... he would just bundle up. He had no car so had to use the bike to get where he needed / wanted to go. Wish more were like that.