And the Piano- It Sounds Like a Carnival...: CAS Reflections- Bike Riding

Okay so I have pride in my bike- quite a bit of pride. This bike, who I've named Gepetto, and I have been through a lot together, as I've used Gepetto for the majority of the two years my dad and I have been exercising. This bike was with me when I started out- I was awkward, uncoordinated, and, quite frankly, embarrassing to watch. I've never had great experiences bikes, though. I learned to ride a bike at the ripe age of 8. When everyone else was doing wheelies and soaring off of homemade ramps, I was praying that at one point in the future it would be socially acceptable to use training wheels indefinitely. Not only that, but as soon after I had learned to ride my bike, winter hit. Winters in Ohio mean ice on the roads, especially on our cul-de-sac, where the ice trucks rarely salted the roads. This meant that I wouldn't be able to ride my bike until around March- four months later. You know the expression, "It's like learning to ride a bike- you never forget?" Well I managed to defy this phrase in every way, shape, and form. I pretty much MythBusted that whole idea. The kind, understanding kids across the street helped me get my bearings again and that time it didn't take as long to learn to ride again, but the fact still remains that I forgot how to ride my bike. So Gepetto and I had quite a reputation to live down to.

When my dad and I started exercising, our rides started off slow and short- only going about five or 6 miles in like an hour and fifteen minutes down the canal and back. Over time, however, my balance developed and I became pretty pro at riding my bike, I must say. We took our rides to neighborhoods and major streets and our seven mile trips took about an hour. Now my dad and I (and Gepetto) take only forty-five minutes to travel the extended eight mile ride.

The magic couldn't last forever, though. Gepetto was only a $100 bike and he should have lasted as long as he did. His tires kept popping, the handles were loose, and the seat had started buckling. It was time to say goodbye. We parted ways and I never saw Gepetto again. I will always remember the years we spent together- the good times and the bad, the laughs and the crashes. May his gears rest in peace.