Skip to main content

'To ride a bicycle

is in itself some protection against superstitious fears, since the bicycle is a product of pure reason applied to motion. Geometry at the service of man! Give me two spheres and a straight line and I will show you how far I can take them. Voltaire himself might have invented the bicycle, since it contributes so much to man's welfare and nothing at all to his bane. Beneficial to the health, it emits no harmful fumes and permits only the most decorous speeds. How can a bicycle ever be an implement of harm?' Angela Carter, The Lady of the House of Love

In reading the story collection The Bloody Chamber (which if you haven't read yet, I encourage you to do so!) I came across this extolment of the bicycle. My family and I go everywhere on our bikes, shopping school, work, swimming, basketball etc... If you haven't got a bike, buy, (beg, or borrow) one! (We all ride IDEAL bikes, mine is a Multigo, made in Greece - there's no better time than now to support local Industry.)
So leave your car at home, get off the bus or the tube and feel like you are flying! Cycling is the greatest pastime. It leaves you free to think, you are higher up than most cars so you get a better view, in the city you are certainly faster than any other means of transport and in the countryside you do not miss all the beauty around you. I must admit that where I live it is incredibly easy - there is relatively little pollution and virtually no hills - which is perhaps why Trikala has more bicycles per capita than any other in Greece (I surmise - I have no evidence but it seems that way when looking for a free bike stand).

That still leaves the question: Can a bicycle ever be an implement of harm? There is a story in there somewhere...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Anniversary Scribblers' Den! Cover Reveal: The Den of Antiquity

I have had a band of virtual friends for a little more than a year now, and this week marked the second anniversary of that group: The Scribblers' Den in the Steampunk Empire . Today we are holding another 24 hour party spanning the world East to West, starting with sunrise in Australia and ending at sundown in Haiti, why not join us and see what you are inspired to create? Last years party gave birth to the idea of The Denizens of Steam anthology through a flash fiction competition we held during the party. This year we are celebrating two years of joyous companionship and to that end I will be revealing the cover our second anthology The Den of Antiquity! This book is bursting with short stories rather than flash fiction and is sculpted rather than being an instinctive creation. But before I reveal the wonderful cover designed by Bryce Raffle, I thought I'd send my roving reporter, Antigone Nix, out into the Steampunk Empire to track dow a few of the members of the Scrib...
7 comments
Read more

The Den of Antiquity - Be Charitable - Get Your Copy Today!

READ ALL ABOUT IT! ANTHOLOGY TO DONATE ROYALTIES TO DISASTER FUND!  Amazon US Amazon. UK Barnes & Noble Kobo With today's release of The Den Of Antiquity you can not only entertain yourself, but also make a contribution to a worthy cause . The collaborative opinion when we at the Scribblers' Den decided on a new anthology, was that any money made should go to a charity to be decided closer to the date. As one of our Scribblers' Den members actually lives in Haiti and has first hand experience of the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew, the collective opinion was that the International Red Cross will receive whatever royalties we earn in order to help people who literally have been left with nothing more than the clothes they stand up in. Watch the video below to see what you will be contributing to if you buy the Den of Antiquities today. READ ALL ABOUT IT! THE SECRETS BEHIND THE STORIES IN THE DEN OF ANTIQUITIES! A den is a snug place to curl up ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Where do you get your ideas?

Ask a 1000 writers and you'll get a 1000 answers. It's one of those bug-bear questions. When I get something published (hooray!) I try to tell the story behind the story but it ain't always easy (and sometimes I simply don't want to share!) In this post I thought I'd let you into my thought processes.   This is a gorgeous treasure chest that sits just inside the front door of my godmother's house. I've always loved it as it's got gorgeous colours and seems pretty old - about a century if I were to hazard a guess. Due to the fact that it is a delightful hiding place for palm-sized hairy brown arachnids it has never really been used for more than dumping empty carrier bags. This summer I thought I'd do it up so that we could use it for storing winter blankets. The brass plate at the front has been painted with horrid poo-coloured gloss which I have no idea how to remove but the paper lining, which was all torn, wa...
5 comments
Read more