Jeanie Johnston of Del Norte, Colorado writes:

Dear William,

I saw a photo of you standing alongside

your bicycle when you were kid.

do you still have fun riding your bike?

Dear Jeanie,

no. and certainly not the bike of my youth.

but your question got me thinking

about the circumstances of bike riding.

we rode mostly out of necessity.

we had no notion of health benefits,

or pleasant rides through the countryside on summer days.

we road to the variety store to nab cigarettes for our fathers.

we rode to snag loaves of Italian bread from the bakeries.

we road with the girls side-saddled across the top tubes,

the best rides of all.

we road to the dump to secure rare items discarded by man.

we road to the park, our gloves threaded through the handlebars

ready to play the game.

we rode for the utilitarian necessity of it.

like love.