I can think of many days that changed my life. The day I met my wife. The day I married her. The births of my children. The day I was offered a job at Savage Bicycles. Those are all very important, meaningful days. I remember them all very vividly. They are all important to me. As important as they are to my life in their own right, none of them have the distinction of being "First" -- as in, the first day in my life I can remember that CHANGED my life. The first day that set the trajectory for my life and the decisions I would make.
That day, I was 5 years old, living on Silverado St in Riverside, California. I had been learning to ride a bike with the aid of training wheels in the weeks prior. On that special day, my dad took the training wheels off my mustard yellow Huffy. It was time to learn to ride on my own. Sensing my apprehension, he told me he would run alongside me and hold on to the seat as I pedaled, so I wouldn't fall over. On the third or fourth go, I sensed my dad was no longer running beside me. Sure enough, I looked back and he was already 30-40 feet behind me, standing in the street with a big smile on his face, watching his son ride a bike all by himself for the first time.
Nervous and anxious, yet excited, I kept pedaling -- all the way down to the end of my street. Once I got to the end of the cul-de-sac, I stopped and looked back at my dad. Still standing in the street. Still watching. Still smiling. I could not believe I had ridden so far on my own. I had ridden all the way to the end of our street. And my dad had let me! This new found freedom and independence was intoxicating. I was SO far from my front yard. In reality, we were the fourth house from the end. However, to 5 year old me -- it may as well have been a mile.
That was 44 years ago, give or take a couple months, and I remember it like it was yesterday. It changed my whole mindset. It changed my entire being. It shaped the way I thought about life. It made me a dreamer, while simultaneously making me a doer. I owe most of whatever success I have achieved in life to that day and the bicycle. It taught me that I could do anything if I just tried. If I could dream it, I could do it. You just have to keep pedaling.
And that's the best example I can give of the power, the majesty, and the magic of bicycles. Freedom. Independence. Joy. Fitness, both physical and mental. Adventure. Hope. The simple bicycle is the key to it all.
The bicycle is something special. The bicycle is something in itself, in its own right. Bicycles are totally and completely unique. They are worthy of our attention, our thoughts, our dreams, and our admiration. They are worthy of our respect. They are worthy of our love.
