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Being on the sidelines was something I truly hated as a child. I was probably the best athlete in the area where I grew up, and excelled at many different sports. The last thing I had time for was learning to ride a bike. I was either on the ball field practicing my craft, or studying game action to get some pointers on how to improve. This explains why then that I did not learn to ride a bike till I was 10 years old! I finally had gotten tired of watching my friends mount up and ride to the 7-11 to get a slurpee, while I stayed behind and waited for them to come back. So one morning I asked dad to take me out and teach me.

He put a bike in the back of the car, and we headed off to an abandoned parking lot near my home. You see, I was not going to damage my reputation by having people see me constantly falling over, scraping my knees, and things of that nature. No sir, I was just going to spend an hour or so learning how to drive this thing, then I would appear back in the neighborhood and presto, I would be a big time rider like the rest of my crowd. Dad asked me if I wanted him to install the training wheels and I replied "What! I am not a baby dad!" I mounted the little red bike and began my assault on this new skill I was trying to acquire. Sure, I fell a couple of times right out of the gate, but as I kept getting back up, I felt my confidence growing. I kind of looked at it the same way as I did my hockey skates. It was all a matter of balance.

After about a half hour of trial and error, I finally had the hang of it. I was riding fast, riding slow, and even doing zigzags and circles. I was now a very confident individual on my little red rocket, ready to face the daunting task of accompanying my mates on the ride to 7-11. I too now would be drinking that wonderful slurpee on those hot summer days. After my last jaunt around the parking lot, I announced to dad that I was good to go, so he packed the bike back up and drove us back home. My plan was to debut my newfound skill the next day.

As morning rose the very next day, I was excited to show my friends that I could do what they do. It was around noontime that the first of them started to appear, and slowly everyone and their bikes arrived on the scene. I ran to the backyard and got on my bike. I quickly rocketed through the yard, and made my way up the street. As I approached the fellas cheers arose. They whooped and yelled, "Hey look, he is finally joining the riding crowd". I could not have been smiling

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