I learned to ride a bike the summer before I turned 6 and started Kindergarten. I had been asking Mom and Dad about learning to ride a bike. In the early evening one day, Dad took me to the garage. Mom's old bike from college was in the garage. It had not been ridden that I could remember. Dad pumped up the tires and lowered the seat as low as it would go.
He put me on the seat and walked me down the driveway while he instructed me to pedal. Then, he walked up and down the road in front of the house a few times with me.
He asked me to turn down the lane toward the big hayshed. Then, he started pushing the bike really fast and pushed me off on my own. I pedaled all the way to the hayshed before I fell over. Then I turned around and rode the bike back to the house.
As I remember it, it all happened that fast...and just like that I could ride a bike.
I found the picture below on eBay. Mom's bike looked very much like this one except it did not have a large light on the handlebars.
I rode that bike for the rest of the summer. I did not realize that it was a "girls" bike until later.
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