Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story

[ian]

Only one of my schoolfriends actually died. Ironically, not through our general lack of sense, his parents wouldn't let him do the crazy stuff because he had some variety of congenital heart disorder that meant he might die, instead he fell through the garage roof while helping his dad recover a football and cracked his head on the concrete below.

Anyway, apropos of bike riding kids, it's pretty much a case of putting the bike in the boot and going to a park for a quick ride around. Even as an adult, turning up with a bike always provokes the question, usually delivered with mildly incredulous rising intonation, 'did you cycle here?' Nope, I just push this bike around as a fashion accessory.

Bejesus, I'm old. This thread merely makes it official.

[Exit Stage Left]

Feral childhoods tend to coincide with new housing estates. Young couples occupy them, and raise a generation of little gang members. Those gangs tend to occupy a local territory, and the parents are content to let them roam, as they won't go far.

I used to look after a lot of urban woods planted by a new town prior to the building of housing estates. The highlight of my spoilsport activities was the removal of an impromptu adventure playground erected by kids and parents. The main components were the safety nets that had been stolen from an adjacent building site, pulling over some of the gable end brickwork in the process of theft. The more usual activity is den-building and the construction of BMX tracks.

There's a tremendous amount of building going on around here at the moment. There was a lot of 'structure planting', as it's termed, in the late 1970s. The result is that there are ready-made playgrounds for the coming generation. The concentration of kids dissipates as estates mature, and childrens' social life becomes less spontaneous. 

[caerau]

Halcyon indeed. Though we didn't do words like that at my comprehensive school.

Snork.  My old schools was on special measures not long ago and is now an academy.  I went to a comp too - though using words like might have been my downfall in the senior years 

[Ashaman42]

Finally got round to watching this last night.

I like the fact the guy with the oldest bike evar wasn't afraid to actually get it on the road and ride it. Much better than leaving it hermetically sealed and unused.

Was a very pleasant watch lounging on the sofa having just got in from a bike ride.