Bike Club

When I think of summer, I think of bicycles. I imagine that idyllic moment of a weekend day when morning is just about to blur into the afternoon, our clocks cross meridian and our muscles start waking up, sleep's out of our eyes and the way the sunlight's paled yellow slides onto the emerald green of the suburban shrubs, it gets you arching onto the balls of your feet. Toes wanna pedal...

Even if it was for three summers and a handful of years ago, I still have a solid sentimentality, like  perfectly preserved crystallized amber, for the bike club... Defying The Law Bicycle Club. We were a gang, really. We never got into any trouble, but we still probably looked like blissful yahoos... We weren't intimidating, per se, but you still gave us space if we rolled through...We never had destinations. The point of it all was: togetherness. There was something about the sweet, disjointed symphony of bike bells and horns, of clicking chains and the ker-chunk of gear changes....and then nothing else but the softness of 11 mph-speed winds blowing into your aviator sunglasses as you just shared the road with peaceful souls who wanted nothing more but a little fresh air and solace from white noise gadgetry. ...Maybe a bloody mary, too...

I'm just saying... Before Facebook helped manifest "Ferndale" or #FerndaleNormal into this kind of quaint image or live churning motif of charismatic quirk where we, most of the time, celebrate overarching vibe, tendencies or temperaments that make this town-which-we-inhabit special.... Way before that, nine years back, 20-some-odd friendlies just got out and formed a human mobile, a rolling coterie of through-being-cool- types who just wanted to do an exciting bit of nothingness...as a group.

And I love every member of the DTL club; even if I don't personally know them. That we formed a group, that we felt together, despite holding our own handlebars, we still felt clasped together. So, whatever happens this summer, I hope you find some great company...cuz that's what it's all about. Not that it has to be about anything...not that it has to go anywhere... That's the beauty of it...