I began to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world, upon whose spinning wheel we must all earn to ride, or fall into the sluiceways of oblivion and despair. That which made me succeed with the bicycle was precisely what had gained me a measure of success in life — it was the hardihood of spirit that led me to begin, the persistence of will that held me to my task, and the patience that was willing to begin again when the last stroke had failed. And so I found high moral uses in the bicycle and can commend it as a teacher without pulpit or creed. She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life.
-Frances E. Willard, How I Learned To Ride The Bicycle (1895)
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.
-H.G. Wells
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
-Albert Einstein
I always liked:
Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. ~Mark Twain, “Taming the Bicycle”
The “…if you live” is somewhat ominous!