Stories for Dad: Learning to Ride

Feb 5, 2016

Last night I stopped by my parent’s place for a short chat and to make sure I had my paperwork in order. I was on my way to the UPS Store to send back an item I didn’t need. As I headed for home I was thinking about all the stuff I needed to take care of before I left for work in the morning. I knew I had some things to take care of on my bike before riding in. This included: checking the air in my tires, oil the chain and make sure my lights were charged. I had some other non-bike stuff to handle as well, but this was my focus as I really like to make my morning ride easy.

Daydreaming

Biking to and from work is some of the most enjoyable time I get during the day. Nobody asking me for anything. Just me, the bike and my thoughts (unless of course someone is racing me… yes, that happens quite often).

Earlier in the week I was thinking that all my biking started on a Friday afternoon when I was about 6 or 7 years old. Pat Whalen got his first bike a couple of days before and I was begging for a bike. I wanted a bike and I wanted my Dad to teach me how to ride it. Apparently my begging worked back in the day as he picked up a red two wheel bike at Sears and brought it home.

Training Wheels Don’t Work

At first, like every other kid in the world I was excited about it. Then, as I got on the bike I began to realize I didn’t know how to ride and was a little scared. I think I realized this might take some work and I may tip over along the way.

My bike had training wheels on it and I couldn’t balance worth a damn. The training wheels make things really tricky as I bounced from side to side as I rode. Eventually, my Dad decided that the training wheels were doing more harm than good. He was sure he could teach me to ride and that training wheels weren’t necessary. I think this is where I came up with the 3 hour/3 day plan that I used to teach Arianna and Derek how to ride their bikes. Give me 1 hour per day for 3 days and we’ll make it happen… together.

Once the training wheels were off it amped up the tension and excitement. It was raining lightly on this early summer evening. Pat Whalen was on his bike and trying to help me learn. In a nutshell, my Dad held onto the bike (running next to me) while I pedaled. He ran next to me for about two houses before letting go. He kept running next to me, but was not holding onto the bike. I was riding! Once I realized that I was riding on my own I was gone. I rode down the street with Pat and then turned around. It was tricky, but after a couple of laps I’d learned to ride a bike. My Dad tossed me into the fire and it worked!

Pat and I rode till it got dark out that night. There were so many times we just rode our bikes all day. Once we all got speedometers for our bikes and could track distance (the speedometers always had odometer functionality built-in) it was a competition to see who could ride the furthest in one day.

A New Bike for my Birthday

For my birthday one year I got a new bike. A 5 speed Schwinn Stingray with a stick shifter. I put 60 miles on it that very day. I didn’t ride anywhere far away… I just kept riding. By the end of the day I’d surpassed Mitch McConley’s 50 mile record. I was just riding up and down the street from one end to the other and back again. One half mile per lap. I was trying to put the record out of reach and I guess I did. I don’t think I beat the record till I rode in the 100 mile Trek 100 charity ride in the early 90s.

To this day some of my fondest memories involve riding my bike. Childhood highlights include:

• The “Cox 100” bike race which Mitch won. 100 laps around Elmer Cox’s circular driveway
• Jumping our bikes on the makeshift ramp next to Haack’s and behind Kmart on the ramp (door) that the Renz brothers had setup
• Hunting for beer cans. We rode to Ramada Inn, Exel Inn, Holiday Inn, etc. We rode all over the place hoping to find beer cans from people traveling… and it worked
• Repainting my bike and turning my 5 speed into a single speed bike

Yes, I had a 5 speed bike, but it was heavy so I bought a new rear rim and chain, repainted it and turned it into a poor man’s BMX bike. It might not have been perfect, but painting the bike was a good experience. I completely stripped the bike and reassembled it. I learned to paint and in the end I was very proud of my work. A small victory, but a win none the less.

Current Day

Lots of fun bike stories and to this day I continue to ride and have fun most of the time. I’m not going to say EVERY time because riding into the wind or riding in cold rain still doesn’t do it for me.

One thing that puts a smile on my face is riding a single speed bike. One speed just like the red bike that I learned to ride on. I don’t have coaster brakes like my first bike and better handlebars, but aside from that it’s all the same. I owe my Dad a lot for teaching me to ride as it’s been something I’ve enjoyed for many many years.