Susan, over at Five Minutes for Mom, asked us to write about our first bike or how we learned to ride a bike.
Wow, that experience takes me way back–in so many different ways!
As the oldest child, I wasn’t watching brothers or sisters who could already ride. But I remember being very young–probably 4 or 5–watching the neighborhood kids in New Jersey–riding wheelies, sitting on the handlebars–and I wanted to ride too! We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so it was never an option for my parents to go out and buy me new toys. That said, I never felt poor growing up.–We always found tons of toys second-hand (either given to us or sold to us for a fraction of what it would cost new)!
A guy in our church came across a used red bike–which became my first bike. I remember riding down the street by our house with training wheels at first, with my mom walking alongside me (or jogging, as I got faster).
One huge memory for me was a trip deep into southern Illinois, visiting friends who lived on a long gravel road. I had just learned to ride, and these kids’ bikes didn’t have training wheels. My lack of balance, combined with the gravel road, resulted in a deep knee wound–the scars of which remain on my knee some twenty years later!
After that experience, I was even more determined to ride a bike without training wheels, and after coming home, I perfected my balance skills with hours of riding. 🙂
In high school I rode during the summer with my dad for exercise–4-8 miles. I’ve always enjoyed biking, and I’m hoping, as my children grow older, we can bike together as a family!
Maybe we will win one of the Strider Balance bikes! 🙂 Check it out!
