This brings a smile to my face — it reminds me of Alex, my beloved, intrepid son, who knows all about the joys of of flying on two wheels!

Going Down Hill on a Bicycle
A Boy’s Song

Henry Charles Beeching

With lifted feet, hands still,
I am poised, and down the hill
Dart, with heedful mind;
The air goes by in a wind.

Swifter and yet more swift,
Till the heart with a might lift
Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry:
“O bird, see; bird, I can fly.

‘Is this, is this your joy?
O bird, then I, though a boy,
For a golden moment share
Your feathery life in air!’

Say, heart, is there aught like this
In a world that is full of bliss?
‘Tis more than skating, bound
Steel-shod to the level ground.

Speed slackens now, I float
Awhile in my airy boat;
Till, when the wheels scarce crawl,
My feet to the treadles fall.

Alas, that the longest hill
Must end in a vale, but still,
Who climbs with toil, wheresoe’er,
Shall find wings waiting there.