Mother Knows Best!

Sunny outside and no homework (that I could remember). Bike tires fully inflated, and a call from a friend. I was out the door in a heart beat. I knew my grandparents would be coming for dinner that night. It must have been the first week of May, school was still in, but not for long, and we were having a birthday dinner. My brother Sam and my sister Becki share the same birthday. I had to hurry and get in some friend time while I could. My friend and I loved to ride our bikes down the big hill on Alpine Blvd. On this beautiful sunny day we spent most of our time laughing so hard I had a stomach ache. I wish I could recall what was so funny, all I remember is that it was the first and only time I wet my pants from laughing. (To this day, this same friend makes my gut hurt from laughing so hard). My friend had a scooter. I was not lucky enough to have a scooter so I rode hers (or maybe her sister's). Down the gravelly hill we flew. We would fly down the hill, and run back up to start all over again, and repeat this process as long as the sun was up. I imagine being able to fly would have similar adreniline effects. We couldn't get enough of it. Our hair blew behind us horizontally, instead of falling flat down our backs; for a ten year old, it felt like warp speed. Did I mention the road was gravel paved? The road had recently been repaved from smooth to a gravel and tar mixture so it was a bumpy ride. We didn't care, the road work was finished. We prefered the smooth road to a gravelly one, but we just wanted a hill to ride down so it didn't matter. My friend's little sister came outside and yelled at us, "Rachel's mom called, she supposed to go home!" "It won't take long to go down a few more times," I distinctly remember thinking this, and worst of all "what does my mom know, I don't care about a birthday dinner. I see my grandparents all the time,". So off I went, several more times down the hill. Each time trying for more speed. When riding a bike or scooter fast, it's important to crouch down so you have good arodynamics and you can go faster. When riding a scooter, it's important to remember that if you crouch down too far, your bum will hit the back tire, so don't crouch down too far. That was my 10 year old logic. Fast fast faster faster fastest . . . Blood, pain, clothing torn, scooter wrecked, oh man I was in so much trouble. . . . stay tuned for the next installment . . .