Bellingham bike parade in 1948  Photo by Jack Carver, courtesy Whatcom Museum		The same ride in 2022

What a difference 74 years can make in a community, especially in the number of people. But I'll bet the communal joy of a group bike ride hasn't changed a bit.

	1971 Fairhaven Bicycles in Bellingham... Photo courtesy Fairhaven Bicycles		...from where most of these bikes in our garage came over the years

Here are a few ways to give your bike a personal touch, intentional or not

	Three-story bike		Salt water patina; otherwise needs work

	I've studied this poster for years - it's on my bulletin board - but I can't for the life of me figure how the bike unfolds.		You could call this a steampunk bike I suppose. There must be a steam whistle attached on it somewhere.

	Unicyclist...		...who maybe did this with their old bike

I always welcome variations on a theme and will try out anything on two or three wheels. I especially like these two, a Vendetta Cruzbike and a hand pedal bike. The Vendetta is a recumbant that requires you to put your feet in the air to get to the pedals. That's tough to do while maintaining your balance, but once you "get it" the ride can be incredibly fast. Vendettas are so fast, in fact, that, like all recumbants, they're outlawed from sanctioned bike races. The claim is that they have an unfair advantage over regular bikes.

No such problem with the hand pedal bike. It's a trike, actually, best for balance if you have limited or no use of your legs. My arms were weak to the task but I could sure see the good sense in the trike's design.

	Vendetta Cruzbike		Hand pedal bike

	A variation on the tricycle is the 3-wheeled ebike for safe riding. Some models don't even need pedaling.		Here's a horsey bike for fun and to make a statement, but I'm not sure what that statement would be.

	Bike lane street sweeper		Mini-mountain of trashed bikes

Any biker will cheer to learn that there is such a thing as a bike lane street sweeper. Gone are those pesky wet leaves, pine cones, chestnut seeds and pop cans. And even old bicycles contribute to the growing trash problem. These are behind a popular fix-it-yourself community bike non-profit.

				Do you ever feel like you're biking in circles? I checked my GPS map once and it's true - I biked in lots of teeny circles while waiting for my wife at the library.
		Tracking apps show where you've been.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Web manager Steve Giordano, past president of the Society of American Travel Writers, is a veteran ski and travel journalist & photographer whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, radio and television and many places around the Internet. He's written numerous travel books. Steve is the designer and technologist of HighOnAdventure.com and was the online and guidebook editor of SkiSnowboard.com. He can be reached at rsgiordano@gmail.com.