We’re trying something new and getting guest bloggers from the Indianapolis community to share with us their earliest memories of the bicycle to help recapture why we all fell in love with 2 wheels.
Writer: Kerri Richardson
Position: Indianapolis Public Schools Social Media Manager
My childhood memories of riding bikes transports me back to summer in rural Boone County, Indiana, in the late-90’s. My brother and I spent our summer days riding our bikes barefoot on the gravel road next to our house. We’d ride down to the creek (the furthest my mom would let us go). We’d go “exploring” then we’d ride back, racing to the corner of the blacktop, where our dog, Mattie, would be patiently waiting for us.
My brother and I were always riding our bikes. We lived in the country so we couldn’t ride them to friends’ houses, so we improvised and rode them around our driveway, through our yard, and the barn lot, making up games as we went.
Then every summer my brother and I and our two cousins spent a week with our grandparents. These were the absolute BEST days. My grandma bought four bikes at a garage sale and the four of us cousins would ride around and around and around in circles on the basketball court in the backyard.
When we got tired of that my grandma would suggest we all (her and my grandpa included) go for a ride on the road to the bridge and back. So we’d get in a single file line and ride on the blacktop pulling over anytime someone yelled “CAR!” Sometimes my grandpa would pull out the tandem bike, and one of us kids would get to ride with him (he did most of the pedaling).
I still remember one summer at the beginning of one of our excursions to the bridge I turned too sharp and wiped out on the turn to the blacktop. I scraped up both arms/elbows pretty bad, but my grandma fixed me up.
Now whenever I see those scars I think back to those summers and the fun we had riding our bikes, building forts and playing games with my grandparents.
Want to help us create bicycle memories for youth in Indianapolis? Help support our crowdfunding effort at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kids-riding-bikes-in-indy/x/3899796
