Fu-Gen Theatre’s Nina Aquino, Richard Lee, and their daughter Eponine (who is named after a character in Les Miz), are a car free family. A bike is their preferred mode of transportation. So they were excited when Purple Shutter showed up at their door! On this particular day, Richard took Eponine for a spin near Cherry Beach and shared his story with us:
Cherry Beach, for some reason the map says that we are on Ward’s island. Go figure. We begin our trek across Queens Quay from our condo. Eponine, my daughter, LOVES bike rides and is screaming with excitement as we buckl her into her trailer seat. “Where we go daddy?” she asks. “We’re going to the beach.” I say. “Yay!” and off we go. As I begin to pedal, the weather is nice, and relatively free of crazy pedestrian and auto traffic. The ride is relaxing, with the exception of the odd wolf whistle, I assume for the purple streamers that decorate the bike. A big buffed up guy tries to make fun of me but he and his girlfriend turn friendly once they find out what the bike is for and check out the Purple Pedals site on their iphone. Points for Purple Shutter!”
Is it just me or are there a lot of really crazy drivers out on the street today? The ride is beautiful. Great gear shifting, nice cushyride. Eps is happily singing songs in her trailer. Alternating between Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and The Alphabet Song.
More looks from teenagers and adults on “cooler” (hey, Purple Shutter is cool) bikes but Eps and I don’t mind. I ride past the T&T and think
about grabbing some dim sum on the way home. As we continue on, we enjoy a nice breeze as we pass one of the bridges on Cherry Street.
The beach at last!!!! Eponine eagerly hops out of her trailer and runs towards the water. A few wind surfers (is that what they call it with the parachutes?) dot the beach and Eps and I watch them in pure fascination as they skim across the water. Everything is beautiful, the water is cool, only one problem. It stinks. The city strike has made this area smell not so great. We manage to stay there for about another 1/2 hour or so before heading back.
Perhaps we should take a different route, something a little less traveled? We decide to take the less used “bike path” that runs along the side of Lakeshore. Its rarely used by people, pedestrians or bikers. It’s a nice ride. No crazy drivers or glaring pedestrians to worry about, and although it’s not as scenic, it does have it’s own charm.
We finally arrive back home, and my wife is super excited for our return! We hand over the bike and Eps says a big “Goodbye Mr. Bike!” and gives it a hug… Awww, what a great way to end a cool ride.
Goodbye Mr. Bike, I hope your continuing journey is a good one. Thank you to Rebecca and Bunch for such a fabulous opportunity!
Nina Aquino and Richard Lee run the Toronto theatre company, Fu-Gen, devoted to Asian-Canadian theater.
