"You can get around pretty quick on that thing, huh!" or how my boomer dad started to see the light

My parents came to visit a a couple months back. For context, I live in Portland, a city known to be good for biking by North American standards but still pretty car-centric. We got breakfast, then went to a museum for a cool exhibit they had on display.

The place we met for breakfast was about a 15 minute bike ride from where I live, so of course I took the bike. After we finished breakfast, my dad offered to give me a ride to the museum. I told him I'd be alright, I could just meet them there. He offered to put the bike in the back of the car so I didn't have to leave it locked up. He wasn't being antagonistic - he just legitimately thought that the 1.6 Miles/2.5KM from the breakfast spot to the museum was going to take monumental time and effort. I politely declined and we set off. I locked my bike up and waited for them. It took them about 10 minutes to find parking.

We enjoyed our museum visit and decided to grab a cup of coffee after. I suggested a coffee shop about a mile/1.6KM away, and again my dad offered to put the bike in the car. I declined and we split up. I got to the coffee shop first, and was locking my bike up as they were parking. As they got out of the car, my mom made a joke that I won again, and my dad said "You can get around pretty quick on that thing, huh!".

Was talking on the phone with my dad a couple weeks later, and he told me all about how much he had been riding his bike. My folks are retired, but my dad still works part time some weeks. The town they are living in has ok bike infrastructure, but a pretty cool network of multi-use paths. He started riding his bike to work and has been amazed at how easy and convenient it is for short trips.

Thanks for reading; just wanted to share a cool story.