Occasionally I see a television commercial which reminds me of the time when I learned to ride a bicycle for the first time, by myself with no assistance. I call it free wheeling.
The commercial shows a little boy on his junior sized new bicycle whose saddle is being held onto by his father as he pedals rather unsteadily to keep upright his forward movement.
The boy who cannot see his father behind him finally unknowingly becomes free of his saddle support and sails down the sidewalk unassisted. Like a bird leaving the nest for the first time, he experiences an exhilarating turning point in his future way of travel.
No more will he be dependent on another’s support. It is exciting to him but for the father, it is a rather bitter sweet experience. His son is on his own now without his guiding hand. I remember my experience learning to ride a bicycle. There was neither a junior sized ride nor a helmet nor an adult to get me started. I lived in a family mostly of boys three of whom were older than me so they became my teachers. There was no paved sidewalk but rather a sandy path that was somewhat of an obstacle for a beginner. But it helped when the inevitable fall occurred.
The bicycle was a standard sized one with no fenders, no sprocket guard, a rickety saddle mount and had a somewhat unusual pedal arrangement. The pedal shafts were not the proper size for the frame but were longer than usual which presented a problem for the rider when he made a turn because if the turn was not made cautiously, the pedal would likely strike the ground and disrupt the bicycle’s movement meaning one might take a tumble. Too, the sprocket chain had an unexpected tendency of coming off causing predictable results. One advantage of the longer pedal assembly was that it permitted the rider to achieve a higher speed, always a plus for any boy.
But this had its drawback. Because of the size of the frame and the length of the pedal assembly, a boy like me had some difficulty reaching the full extent of the movement of the pedals with his feet so that when the pedal was pushed down, the leg was not long enough to allow the foot to maintain full contact with the pedal.
This, however, was not anything that would deter an eager boy from wheeling by himself. If the rider could overcome all of these shortcomings, he was pretty sure he was indeed an accomplished bicyclist.
The same technique as I described above was used by my brother to get me on my way.
He held me up by holding the back of the saddle and without my knowledge, he released his hold and it was freedom time. I was riding by myself although at first unknowingly.
It was a rite of passage that nearly every boy has experienced. The only comparable experience of tasting this kind of boyhood freedom was the next step: getting a driver’s license.
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Bill Lee
P.O. Box 128
Hamer, SC 29547