I Want To Ride My Bicycle

For my 13th birthday I wanted a 10-speed bicycle. I had an old beat up bike, and I had my heart set on a spiffy brand new one.  I didn’t get it.

A few weeks before my birthday, my mom got a call from my art teacher. I’m a little fuzzy now on the details, but I was in trouble for allegedly throwing wet clay at a classmate. Mom and dad were not pleased. Hence, no bike.  A year later, with no recent art class episodes, I finally got my bike. It was a beautiful blue 10-speed riding machine.  I rode that bike everywhere.

A couple of years later, when all my friends were learning how to drive and ditching their bikes, there I was, still pedaling away. When I got my learner’s permit to drive, I didn’t even bother to take my driving test. A year went by, so I had to retake the test to get a learner’s permit. And when I did eventually take the drivers test I failed for going through a stop sign. Why did I need to drive a car when I had my bicycle?

I would frequently ride my bike to the park to play basketball or baseball. In the nearby parking lot were a bunch of kids I knew from school who were admiring their cars. All through high school those guys and gals would be smoking cigarettes and hanging out in the parking lot with their cars.

On breaks from college, I would ride my bike through the park and those same people from high school were still hanging out in the parking lot. They would wave to me and I’d wave back. I would think, “I can’t believe those guys are still hanging out at the park.”

They were probably thinking, “I can’t believe that guy is still riding his bike.”

Of course I had a car. I had to grow up sometime. But, unlike some people, I never ditched my bike just because I had a car. I still ride my bike as much as I can. Colorado is a wonderful place to ride a bike except for those prickly thorns that periodically give me flat tires.

My current bike is a 12-speed model and I’ve had it for a long time. It still is, and always will be, my favorite form of transportation.