How I waited so long for my first bike I But there it was all shiny next to the Christmas tree, I was amazed and I cherished that bike for as long as I had it. Now I was free as the wind, now I no longer needed to borrow my cousins bike. And now I rode with the other boy's on my own steed, thank you, Mom and Dad.

Wet lawns were a great place to stop and skid, racing down our street to see who was the fastest racer.

And now, trips to the store were so much faster and actually fun!

The fenders came off very soon, and I bought a chrome rack for the back, and a chrome light for the handlebars. A short distance from our house was a playground, and one of the times we went there, my chain broke. So I headed for home to see if I had the master link to repair it.

Now I had to walk my bike, and soon it seemed too slow. So I would run with it and jump on the seat, and let it coast as long as I could. About a half a block to go, I found that I was coasting longer and longer.

I thought one more run and I could make it to my driveway. And I was coasting along very well! I was picking up speed and didn't realize how fast I was going! It was too fast to jump off and I didn't have any brakes now because the chain controlled that! The angle of the hill increased at that point, and my speed picked up also! My head was swimming with decisions, jump now? No I would get hurt. Ride it out? No!

because there was a cross street at the end of the block with cross traffic. And even if! made it through there, the hill got steeper and steeper.

So I decided on a driveway that I knew was wide and long. If I stayed on the right side of the street and made a wide turn to the left, I could maybe slow down enough to get off the bike before I reached the end where there was a garage. The wind was roaring in my ears by now as I made my sweeping turn. Across the street and then I hit the driveway. The bike leaped in the air when it hit, and all I had was the handlebar to hold on to, I was no longer on the seat! When I came down, only my leg was on the saddle.

Fighting for control, inches away from the house, I had to "bail out". So with my feet going as fast as they could, I fought to slow my bike down. I had been hoping that the garage door would be open, but it was not. I went speeding towards it, and in a last desperate effort managed to turn the bike at an angle. It hit with a crash and we both fell to the ground. But I was alive! And the bike undamaged!

There was a big tire mark on the neighbors garage door, but I never heard any complaint.