An Old Christmas Present Remembered

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Virtually identical to what I once had.

Times have definitely changed for the generations that followed after me. When I grew up all I wanted was some sporting equipment for Christmas and I was happy with that. I used to cherish everything I received and still have some of those things today.

The one item I don't have is a racing bike that I got when I was 13 and was my pride and joy. We were not exactly wealthy and whatever we had we looked after as we couldn't just replace it. Friends of mine would be given a new bike every year but mine was my transport and with no extra funds lying around had to take care if it.

I used to travel around 10 km to school every day and unless I wanted to walk I had to look after it. I used to ride everywhere and enters the Argus Cycle tour each year which was a race around the Cape Peninsular. Leaving home riding to the start some 20 km away ,then completing the race followed by the ride home from the finish line I would cover close to 200 km in the day.

That bike I had for about 3 years before it was stolen and I didn't realise how much I would miss it until it was gone. It didn't stop me as I was fit in those days and visiting friends meant I just had to run everywhere. Distance was never an issue as it just took time and thinking back I covered 10 's of kilometers each day during school holidays.

Thinking back now it does seem crazy as distance has never worried me since those days. If we went out drinking and missed the last train which we often did we had to walk back offering us a chance to sober up before hitting the dodgy areas on our way home. Those walk/runs sobering up would often take around 3 hours or so and I never used to think twice about doing them either. The route was normally Kalk Bay (Brass Bell Bar) to Rondebosch which is a fair distance for anyone that knows Cape Town.

My kids never got sport equipment for Christmas as the circumstances were different for them. If they needed something I just bought it for them as long as they looked after it. I don't know if it is just me, but I have noticed less kids playing sports today. It could be that parents are more stretched with time as both parents normally work today. Thirty years ago that wasn't the case and most mothers fetched and carried the kids from school and sporting fixtures.

Times have certainly moved on and I know today there isn't one sporting good present this year and the bigger items are all computer related.