Do you remember having a bike as a kid? My bike memory, when I was 6 or 7, was the boy equivalent of getting a driver’s license. That ride opened up new neighborhood territory, fresh vistas, got me away from my house, and, almost more importantly, got me access to the cool boy pack of young guys who also had gotten bikes. In the summer, we’d swarm the neighborhood, test our skills on rugged park terrain, terrorize other kids, and pedal till we couldn’t any more.
Boys, adolescent males, and even men are simply pack animals. Tribe, team, squad, or troop, guys are comfortable in a swarm and have been for centuries. Were you part of a boy tribe? What was your core experience of being on a team? Do you support a sports team today and, if so, what's in it for you? Who is in your male tribe today, if you have one, and how do you feel if you are without one? Leave your story in the comments section of this blog post below or send them to me and I’ll add them for you.
LIKE: If you enjoy this blog, please visit the Man-Making Facebook page and click the "Like" button.
TWEET: Sent this post along to your friends or follow me on Twitter!
SUBSCRIBE: If you're not yet a subscriber to the Man-Making Blog, and you'd like to receive these posts by email 3-4 times a month, go to this link for a free subscription.
CONTACT: Send Earl a message.
Another great blog! I've seen that tree/bike photo before. Interesting the gender assumption that it was a boy (not a girl) who left his (not her) bike by the tree. I did that too.
ReplyDeleteGetting my first bike was probably one of the most significant "milestones" in my boyhood. I got a Schwinn bike for Christmas (with training wheels) and it was snowy (I grew up outside of Detroit), so I shoveled not only our small front sidewalk but down the block so I could ride my new bike a ways down the street.
Can't remember if I realized it at the time or not, but that bike opened up a "new world" for me: independence, mobility, even a job (newspaper delivery boy). I don't recall riding with other guys or even thinking of bike riding as exercise or a possible sport but I loved getting on my bike in the morning and riding to elementary/middle school (many miles away from my home), and riding back home in the afternoon after school. My bike was one of those old-fashion fat-tire, single speeds with a carrier/rack on the back to load my newspaper saddlebags on. Thanks for bringing back so many wonderful memories.
To add a political/environmental dimension to this post, there's a movement in the US called "Safe Routes to School" which advocates making it safe for kids to ride their bikes to school (rather than taking a bus or being driven by their parent(s) ). I live near a couple of schools and ride my bike to a recreation area near the schools, and am saddened/angered to see how many parents drive their kids to school, increasing air pollution, burning oil and depriving their kids of exercise and the freedom I experienced as a child.