I WAS UNSTOPPABLE

when I was about 5 years old, my parents decided it was time I learned how to ride a bicycle.

although I do not remember much from my pre-bicycle riding days, I do remember my shiny red tricycle. my sister later used the same tricycle during her pre-bicycle days, and let me tell you, that tricycle was beautiful. I loved that tricycle, but i definitely wanted to ride the bicycle. (i'm having trouble typing bicycle over and over - i keep spelling it like bicyble - so from now on its a BIKE) bikes were symbolic of being old. i wanted to be older than i was. i always have been like that, and at 5 years old, i especially wanted to be older. 5 year olds are not really that old. riding a bike was like my ticket out of the house. what i did not realize at the time was that my real ticket out of the house started at 16 when i got my driver's license, and eventually translated into moving to the foreign state of kentucky for college, and i suppose my true ticket out of the house will be when i graduate college and get married and live on my own. at 5 years old i had high hopes. they started with bike riding.

one saturday, my mom and dad decided it was time to get me to ride a bike. i was ridiculously excited. I, AMYLYNNE LOUISE HICKS, AM GOING TO LEARN HOW TO RIDE A BIKE. I AM GOING TO BE THE MOST LEGIT KID IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I AM GOING TO WREAK HAVOC AMONG CHILDREN WHO STILL RIDE TRICYCLES NATIONWIDE. I AM UNSTOPPABLE. I AM AMYLYNNE LOUISE HICKS, AND I AM FIVE YEARS OLD. i had this really cool pink Barbie bike that I probably got for christmas or my birthday, although I have no idea. it had tassels on the handlebars. it was stylin'.

as my dad helped me get ready for my big bike extravaganza by buckling my helmet and prepping the bike, he warned me to be careful. my parents did not know at that point in my life quite how clumsy i actually am. it took them years to realize the magnitude of my clumsiness. anyway, dad warned me to be careful, but being the very excited 5 year old that i was, with the attention span of a horsefly, i paid no heed. we went out behind our house- which i should explain. i live in a gated community of townhomes, so the back of my house empties into a street (we dont have a driveway or anything). neighbors had come out of their garages to watch this monumentous occassion in the life of a 5 year old unfold. dad situated me on my pretty pink bike, warned me once more to be careful, and asked if i was ready.

HELL YES I WAS READY! I WAITED MY WHOLE LIFE FOR THIS MOMENT!!! i wanted to cry. instead i shouted YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dad and i began to move. i remember him shouting, PEDAL! and i remember beginning to pedal. I was a speed demon. I was a fast moving machine. I WAS UNSTOPPABLE. I WAS RIDING A BIKE AND I WAS 5 YEARS OLD AND NO ONE COULD EVER TELL ME WHAT TO DO EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all of a sudden, dad let go of the back of the bike where he had been steadying me, (which i didn't know he had been doing) and i felt my bike shift. this was bad. this was very bad.

The next few seconds felt like they lasted a million years. the details in my mind are sketchy, but i remember my bike beginning to lean to the right, and i remember taking a sharp turn on accident, and then i remember the collision of my face into the bumper of the minivan parked in the parking strip next to my house. then, as I do not remember but my parents reminded me, the alarm on the minivan went off, leaving my 5 year old self with an imprinted face while a shrill alarm rang through the whole neighborhood. the scene is blurry in my mind, but i remember starting to cry and just laying there with my face imprinted on the back bumper of some asian lady's minivan. the laughs and shouts of the adults rang in my ears as my dad ran to save me. i was defeated. my bike legacy had drawn to an abrupt, sad end. I was no longer the speed demon.  i was no longer the bicycle queen. i was simply a defeated 5 year old with a broken dream.

32. i hate bicycles