Geometry of the Turning Wheel

Having grown weary of indoor enclosures, I slipped past the entrance door to survey the quiet alley outside. Propped against a mossy brick wall rested an abandoned bicycle. Its rear wheel, elevated slightly above the stones, presented a lattice of slender metallic spokes. Approaching with measured footsteps, I set all six hands to work upon the mechanism: two hands gripped the cool iron stay to anchor my balance, two reached into the spoke pattern to test the taught wire tension, and the remaining two nudged the pedal arm into motion. With each rhythmic rotation, the intersecting steel threads blurred into a series of disciplined, concentric silver circles that mirrored the celestial rings.