Lipton Tea bicycle giveaway

I'm not eligible for the bike contest because I'm in Canada *sniff*, but I thought you'd like to know that both green and white tea have about 10% the caffeine of a coffee (drip), so you should feel free to imbib.

Check it out:

http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm

I learned to ride a bike with my dad holding onto the back of the seat, and running along behind me. I kept saying "don't let go, don't let go" and then at one point I turned around and he'd let go and I'd been riding by myself for a bit, but then I got nervous and skidded on sand and fell. I got back on, though, and have loved riding ever since.

P.S. I'm about a third of the way through your book and am loving it!

I don't remember ever learning how to ride a bike, it must not have been a memorable experience. But I do remember summers from the age of 10 thru 13 when I lived on my bike. My friends and I would bike all over town and to the pool and back every day. We would be out from morning till dark, only going home long enough to eat.
Now that I'm older (35), I am much more fearful of gravity, the bikes just don't seem as stable as they were when I was younger and lighter. I've tried to ride a bike recently and it is much harder than I remember. My kids would love for me to go out with them in the neighborhood, but I need a lot more practice before I can venture past the driveway!

My first bike was a strawberry shortcake contraption, pink and white with a white wicker basket in the front. I loved that bike so much, and rode it every day until the day I crashed into my sister and broke her arm. Coordinated, not so much.

:)

Saw the interview, you looked great!

I'm not sure how I learned how to ride a bike. I do remember being on my bike (with training wheels) at about the of 6 with one of my friends, when her 4 year old brother blew by me (without training wheels). After that I begged my parents to let me ride without training wheels. And yes I'm still friends with her and her little brother STILL makes fun of me 16 years later!

My first bike ride was a traumatic experience. My dad had been holding the back of my bike and walking me around the road for a few days, the big day finally arrived when I told my dad "I am ready to do it by myself." My dad was so proud, he pushed me for a while then let go of me. I was so happy as I was riding, coasting really, down a hill. Only problem was nobody had told me how to STOP the bike, so I crashed into a parked car and my bike broke into several pieces. Took me a long time to ever get back on, but I eventually did!

It was my 7th birthday and I KNEW that I would be getting a bike, as I had hounded my parents for one for months before the actual big day. My dad rolled my beloved new bike into the front yard - it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! It was pink and purple with a white banana seat and a white plastic basket on the front. The streamers from the handle bars were pink and purple and I thought I had never seen anything so fancy in my whole entire life. Dad told me to hop on, so I did and with him holding on to the back of the seat, away we went down the sidewalk, a little wobbly at first, but after awhile, I was riding cautiously alone. I remember telling my dad how smooth the ride was, not like my old rusty tricycle. I must have put a hundred thousand miles on that bike. *sigh* I wish I had it now!!

I don't really remember much about learning to ride a bike. I do remember though, that one of my best childhood memories is being hoisted on to one of those kiddie seats while my brother rode his bikes with me behind him. I haven't spoken to my brother in three years (or more) and he's very indifferent to me, nowadays. I wish we could go back to where he would strap me to the back of his bike.

Hi! I love your blog and this is my first comment.

I learned to ride a pink huffy. I loved that bike. I would spend hours riding up and down the driveway until I was finally able to take to the not-well-traveled country road we lived on. I have always gotten joy from riding a bike. With my recent weight loss of 86 (eeeks!) pounds, I have again started to enjoy riding. I have been taking a spin class twice a week and taking long rides with my husband on the weekend. It is amazing how strong and freeing it feels to be in this new healthy, active lifestyle.

Thanks so much for your inspiration.
heidi

Aww MAN! Stoopid Scottish residency! The bike colours reminds me of a jar of Vegemite :)

I was 9 years old when my grandmother bought the pink Schwinn with a banana seat for me at a garage sale. The next day, I walked to her house and my aunt taught me to ride it. There was a small hill in grandma's yard. At first I coasted down with my legs to the side, then with my feet resting on the pedals, and finally I started pedaling on the way down the hill. I kept on pedaling...

I also learned on a pink huffy. I loved to bike right away, but I wasn't allowed to go very far from my house, and riding in circles around the parking lot got old... so the poor bike sat unused. We moved and I was allowed to go further afield at the new place - but I didn't understand that bikes had air in their tires and oil on their chains, and the bike that had been sitting unused needed both. All of the sudden, biking seemed really, really hard!

I was shocked, more than ten years later, when I got on a bike and was able to go faster than a brisk walking pace. Now I bike to work and most errands, and it's great - as long as I remember to lube the chain and keep the tires full.. which reminds me of something I should be doing...

Thanks PQ!

I don’t remember learning how to ride a bike. I suppose it wasn’t a memorable experience (unlike learning to roller skate for which I still have the scars to remind me). I do remember having a pink bicycle with plastic rainbow tassels and a white basket in the front. My bike had the metal pedals (before plastic was deemed safer for kids) and my shins had the bruises to prove it. During the ages of 8-12, I lived on my bicycle, only coming inside when it was time for dinner. It was a great time in the 80’s where every house on my block had a child my age and we all rode around as if we owned the neighborhood. I distinctly recall riding with a basketball in one hand to duel my brothers at the park, then riding to the nearest McDonald’s for free iced water. I haven’t ridden since my brother got his license, but thinking about those times reminds me of how active and happy I was as a child.

I remember learning to ride a bike in the back yard with my dad on a 3 speed blue Schwinn that I had gotten for Christmas the year I was 7. I think I may have learned a little on a smaller bike, but I didn't master the riding skill until I had the new bike.

My backyard had a slight hill so it was good for starting with some momentum. My dad would hold the back of the seat and tell me to start pedalling. Then he would let go. Repeat dozens of times and then finally one day I could stay upright.

I actually still have that bike, even though right now it needs new tires. I'd love to win this new one, but I don't think I will ever get rid of my old-school Schwinn.

I don't remember if it was hard to learn to ride, except my mom would take me to the parking lot of the tool & dye up the street on Sundays when no one was there. The lot was gravel and I would fall down a lot and scrape myself up. It would be hot in that big open expanse and the windowless corragated blue walls of the tool and dye towered over me. Trains would come by and make their train noises. Cars would go by and make their car noises. Then we would walk home and I would get a popsicle.

I remember learning to ride a bike vividly! I was 5 and my best friend and next door neighbor had learned how to ride her two-wheeler... I was green with envy. I remembered crying that night that she could do something that I could not. I came home from school the next day and didn't tell mom or dad, but taught myself to ride my bike. It was a very freeing experience. My 5 year old daughter learned to ride her bike yesterday. She learned the same way I did... damn sheer determination. Her cousin learned last week.

I don't remember - its seems really blury to me. I am the youngest of five sisters so not sure if they helped or my parents. I do remember living on my bike though, we would get up early, pack snacks (could this be the start of the weight problem?) and take adventures around town. We really thought that we were so far from home when in reality we were at best a 1/2 mile away. We did this almost every day in the summer if we were not at the pool. It was so much fun! I should take more adventures as an adult!!!

I can't remember learning to ride a bike at all. I do have a story that involves bicycle riding and in fact bicycle riding became very important to me for a time. All throughout law school and later once I started working as a lawyer I had a copy of this catalog that I found one day at school. It described these absolutely wonderful sounding European bike trips. I was somewhat miserable for large periods during law school and directly afterwards in part because I felt trapped by my choices. I used to spend hours upon hours reading this catalog and dreaming of going on a European bike trip. I had never traveled abroad and I desperately wanted to. I thought about it all the time. I mean, I had pretty much memorized this catalog. Finally, after I had worked at a law firm for about 3 years, circumstances emerged that encouraged and permitted me to quit. I applied for and was accepted to the Peace Corps and left my job about 4 months before departing to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer, cashed out my 401k, and spent every cent of it on a 3 month European trip. Seven weeks of that trip were spent on bike trips with that very company, and I can honestly say it was worth every penny. Retirement, Shmetirement I say. The company is www.bluemarble.org. They are fantastic, and I highly recommend them. I have been itching for ages to go on another trip with them, and maybe I will. For me, a bike represents freedom and the culmination of a lot of frustrated dreams. I don't currently have a bike, so winning this one would be sweet!

My dad was a PhD student when I was about 6 or so, and we lived in student housing, which was this big grassy area dotted with houses. All the kids I hung out with were older than me, and at some point I was the only one left with training wheels on my bike.

One of the older kids pointed this out to me, and man, did I get mad! So I wheeled my little pink and purple (seriously) bike home, sat down on the couch and demanded to have the training wheels taken off. My parents were a little taken aback, but my dad agreed, and once they were off I kept trying all day to get my ballance, until finally I succeed. Great example of my stubborn streak.

I've been reading your blog for a while, and I'm so impressed! Congrats on all your success.

I learned how to ride on a purple unicorn bike with training wheels. Which unfortunately got stolen from the front of my house. I have learned since to lock things up with wheels!

I was in third grade and had wanted a bicycle FOREVER, but my parents had ignored me because my older sister didn't want one. (They operated under the assumption that she would do everything first.) Finally, someone in our church heard my pleas and gave me a second hand one. The day my dad came home with it I was so excited I squealed. Every house on our block in Amarillo, Texas, had boxwood shrubbery in front, so I wobbled up and down the block, using those shrubs as my emergency cushion to fall into when I lost my balance. I rode that night until the street lights came on and my parents made me come inside. Scratched but eager, I was out the next morning at dawn. By about noon, I had a wobbly mastery of bicycling, and I simply loved it.
Come to mama, yellow Fuji; it has been a long time!

I kept my training wheels on for a long time. My brother is two and a half years younger, and when he started riding, he didn’t bother with the training wheels. Subsequently, he learned to ride before me. That’s when I decided to abandon the training wheels, myself. My dad told us to turn in the direction that we felt like we were going to fall. That would have worked out great, except we only had a narrow sidewalk to ride on, lined with trees and parked cars.

My dad taught me by holding on to the back of the bike and then periodically letting go...I guess I wasn't learning fast enough for him so he decided to get on and show me how it was done. He rode to the end of the street and went up a driveway to turn around and promptly rode the bike right into their garage door...him and the bike fell right over...after that he stuck to holding on to the seat and denies to this day that he fell off my bike and skinned his knee.

My older cousin's felt it was time that I learn to ride a bike (I was 6, they were 10-12) when they wanted to bike down to the theater to see the Care Bears movie - it was a small town in the 80's, no one questioned the safety of small kids biking across town ;-)

So, my cousin Jenny took her old bike, popped me on it and kept telling me to think I was 'the little engine that could' and repeat "I think I can, I think I can"......I remember being so obsessed with saying those words that I just pedaled down the street with no problems what so ever.

:-)

So I've been lurking for awhile, but this is just too tempting.

I learned to ride a bike the first time at age 8, but I recently re-learned in a fairly traumatic fashion. I decided to buy myself a road bike to ride here in DC, but, since I'm terrified of the thing, and traffic here makes riding around in anything less than a tank hazardous, I decided to ride only at about 6 AM on Saturdays. This, unfortunately, happens to be when all of the hard-core, Tour de France wannabes in their fake Lance Armstrong uniforms (really) go riding at about 70 mph, which has left me with the rather unenviable choice of being run down by them at 6:00 or running down innocent moms with strollers myself at 8:00. Additionally, when I assembled the bike, I put the front fork on backwards, so every time I tried to turn I fell off. For three months. Until a friend pointed out that my foot was not supposed to overlap the wheel by that full 8 or so inches.

So I can say from personal experience that the 75 bucks for assembly Lipton will send should definitely be taken to the nearest bike shop, where they will surely stare at you derisively as they assemble the non-Trek, barely worthy of bike-hood bike, but at the very least you are slightly less likely to crash into light poles--yes, light poles, some barely visible in their slenderness--as I did some two dozen times last fall.

I really can't remember exactly how I learned to ride a bike. I'm pretty sure it involved training wheels, though! When they were taken off and I was on my own, boy was I wobbly...

I remember my childhood and the bikes of my childhood in snippets rather than cohesive stories. I remember my brother and I perched in matching plastic child seats strapped to the back of my parent's bikes as they raced home ahead of a thunderstorm and an oversized powder blue bike with training wheels. I remember riding with my parents and my father, on his bike, coming up behind mine and pushing me forward a little faster yelling 'you need to switch gears' and 'come on, you're falling behind'. I remember a bike ride where I suffered because I refused to let my parents know that I'd ripped open the back of my leg climbing a fence (that I shouldn't have been climbing). I remember as a teenager riding for hours by myself along different roads and paths and now, now the bike I've had since I was 13 is on its last wheels, and I go to the park and watch the bikes fly by and try to pretend I like running more than biking (I so don't).

I received my first bike for my birthday. I can't remember what year but I was in elementary school. Anyhoo, I rode around in the driveway for a day on training wheels. I was convinced that I was a pro on the bike and they could be taken off. I wanted to get out there in the neighborhood and ride. My older brothers were doing it why not me? My Dad took them off and I got up on that bike and....crashed! Hard! But that didn't stop me. With a little help, I was up on my bike and riding in the neighborhood within a week. Its been a while since I've been on a bike but would love to go on bike trails in the mountains of Virginia. What great exercise! Thanks for helping motivate me to lose the weight!!

I don't remember learning to ride a bike, though I know I didn't learn until first grade. I have a terrible memory when it comes to things from my childhood.

However, I need a bike! A few years ago I briefly lived with my dad. His friend left a bike at the house, so I decided to ride my bike to work every day (about a mile). I couldn't believe how quickly that helped me shape up! I was doing other things as well, of course, but I think it made a difference.

I haven't bought a bike since because we lived in the big city for a while and I am afraid of riding with cars. Then I had a baby and didn't know if I could ride with a baby. I was actually planning on buying a bike this weekend!

My dad taught me how to ride a bike. I had the bike with the banana seat, big handle bars and the basket with 3 flowers. I also had a bell that I rang all the time. The day he took of my training wheels, he gave me a push from our barn in our back yard. We (the bike and me) went flying, and landed on the rock that we built fires on in the back yard. I was done that day, but ever since, I've loved riding my bike!

I learned to ride a bike the summer I turned 6. My birthday is in July and the morning of my birthday my parents told me we were going to pick up my birthday present. We drove to JC Penny's and parked in the back by the loading dock. My dad went in and came out with a big box. It was a brand new bright yellow banana seat bike. I was so excited to get home and ride it. I have 2 older brothers and they had been riding their bikes for what seemed like forever and were free to go around the block all by themselves. I wanted to go too. When we got home, my dad put the bike together and then took me next door to the empty field where there was a hill. I jumped on the bike and he gave me a push and I was off. I had no fear and took off right away. I still love the feeling of getting on a bike and taking off. However, now I make sure to wear a helmet. I've had 2 major bike accidents and am lucky to be able to still ride.

My Dad taught me how to ride a bike as well. He'd hold on to the back seat and give a shove.We never had a new bike in the family (too many siblings), but my parents always put a lot of work into refurbishing a basically good bike from the thrift store, so we each got one when we learned to ride. I don't have a bike but would love to have one to ride to work for a change (I usually walk).

P.S. Admittedly, although an avid blog reader I have not bought your book- however I did read the entire thing at Borders bookstore last weekend!

I don't remember learning to ride a bike. I do know that it was my primary transportation as a kid and I would ride to my friends' houses everyday during the summer. They lived in a subdivision that had a community pool.

I don't remember exactly learning to ride a bike but I've had a lot of bike accidents. At 7 years old I was trying to ride a men's 10 speed and flew over the handle bars, landed on my chin and had to get stitches. I do remember telling the doctor if it hurt I was going to spank him. I didn't get to spank the doctor of course but I did get a strawberry milk shake on the way home. Please tell us if you were nervous on the show, you didn't seem like you were at all. Good job!

My older brother and sister thought it would be funny to adjust my training wheels so that the back tire no longer touched the ground. When I got on to pedal it was like riding an exercise bike and despite my best efforts the bike did not move. I was so angry with them as they rolled on the grass laughing their asses off. I went to Dad and demanded that he remove my training wheels so I could learn to ride a my bike the real way, he did and took me to a section of our driveway that had a gentle slope. That gentle slope gave the bike just enough momentum to allow me to make the pedal connection and power the bike on my own. After that day there was no stopping me!

I was 7 and received a purple bike for Christmas. It had a white banana seat, ape hanger handle bars, and a pretty whicker basket with pink flowers on it. My best friend had been riding a bike since we were like 4 and I couldn't waite to learn. Growing up in WI it was very cold with deep snow, but my sister took me to the alley behind our house. She held for a little while, but when she let go I went crashing into the neighbors garage. I never let go of the handle bars and smashed all my frozen knuckles and fingers. It hurt so bad I waited until summer to try again. Then I just stood by a step and pushed off (because the bike was too tall) until I got it. Now I'm 43 and still love to ride!

I was about 7 when I learned how to ride a bike without training wheels, which I thought was rather late to learn. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I can remember how scared I was even WITH the training wheels on. I didn't like the way the bike hobbled back and forth between the two training wheels. My dad kept explaining to me that if I would just pedal faster that wouldn't happen, and I wouldn't even NEED the training wheels. Still I hobbled along for weeks just pouting away because I just couldn't get the hang of it. Then one day I came home and there was a shiny brand new bike with a banana seat and sparkly purple paint with streamers on the handle bars. I mean it was THE bike to have in 1980. But I think I cried and said I didn't want it because it wasn't pink (what a brat I was! I'm SO embarrassed!). So they took it back, and they were so hurt. :-( So a few weeks later, one day I just got on my friend's bike and rode it like I had been riding a bike for years! I couldn't believe how easy it was! Here's the funny part, after my parents saw that I could ride a bike, they got me a USED (because of my tantrum with the new they had surprised me with before) Huffy with a basket and a big squishy seat. And it was pink. :-)

(side story - i am a whore for that white tea. i buy the 20 oz bottles in bulk from BJ's and am currently am sipping on the peach hot white tea)

My first bike was a My Little Pony bike. It was white and pink, and of course, had the ponies on it. I loved everything about the bike, it even had a basket that I could put my My Little Pony action figures in (yes, they were action figures). Sadly, my memories about the actual bike are much fonder than me riding the thing. I was 5 or 6, I can't remember, but we lived in Iceland at the time, and we were very limited as to where my parents could teach me. My sister was riding her bike (hers was not nearly as cool as mine... it had a banana seat!) but she had it without training wheels. I couldn't let my big sister do something I couldn't do, so I made my dad take the training wheels off. Either my memory is clouded or I was a child prodigy, but I distinctly remember only needing one push from my dad and I was off.

My least fond memory of bike riding involves my best friend Kristin. We were in 4th or 5th grade, and we would always ride our bikes around the neighborhood. We also would twirl batons and pretend like we were majorettes (we had wild imaginations!). We were riding down the one hill in our neighborhood, and Kristin's baton got stuck in the spokes of her rear tire. Her bike completely flipped over. We thought she broke something. Thankfully, she was okay. But we never rode bikes carrying batons again!

I learned to ride a bike when I was eight in the era of banana seats. My bike was purple and had a white basket on the front with a plastic flower attached. I fell off many times and had the usual skinned knees - but the freedom was worth all the bandaids! It is Bike Week and it is being celebrated vigorously in Boston. I've ridden my bike everyday this week so far - even in the treacherous Boston traffic, crossing bridges and everything. I've come a long way.
Thanks for hosting this give away!

Like others that have posted notes here already, I don't recall very clearly learning to ride my bike. I do know that I rode it everywhere. I am the third of nine kids in my family and if you couldn't get to wherever you wanted to go by foot or by bike you just didn't go there. So my brothers and sisters all rode everywhere, to stores, to the park, to the public pool. I also loved riding my bike and I have never had one as an adult. I have been seriously considering getting one - so of course I'd LOVE to win your raffle!

Thanks for taking up the offer from Lipton, I wouldn't mind tooling around my neighborhood on my sweet tea bike!
:) kate

I learned to ride at five on a small blue bike with no name or label. It had a small basket on the front and a bell. The first time I was "free" from the hands of worried parents running along side or the training wheel I said "I'm free!!!!" And I was. My bike made me mobile and that's a great feeling. At five. Or any age.

I also hit that basket one day as I launched over the handlebars when I hit a tree, but that's a different post.

Pretty bike.

Hi there!
I know I can't win the bike (I'm Canadian - really we're not international, I swear!) but I thought I'd share that I learned to ride a bike at the very senior age of 23 (I'm 30 now). When I was a kid I fell off and my parents never made me get back on, so I didn't (I supposed I decided that falling wasn't something I was interested in). Then at 23, I was teaching English in Poland and I thought it's high time to see what all the fuss was about... so I went with a friend to a park outside the city and I tried... and oh man, did I fly!! I was a force to be reckoned with.

Now I live in Toronto, and for the past 3 years have been riding my bike year round to work every day. It's crazy for me to think that I went from not knowing to riding on the downtown streets of a city of 3 million people.

That's my biking story. Oh, and I love your blog!

ewa.

AHHH...Red Lightening...That was the name of the beauty that my brother, my sister, and I all learned to ride with on the small hill in front of our house. We called it Red Lightening because it had red paint with shiny silver specks in it that sparkled in the sunlight. Each one of us anxiously awaited the day that it was our turn to have the honor of riding Red Lightening down the street with our dad and all the neighborhood kids running behind us.

We actually saved the bike for years in hopes that as we had our own children they too would find that same joy from Red Lightening that we did, however, by the time the first one came along and was ready to ride a bike he refused to get on it because he said it wasn't cool enough (and the next two agreed)!

I learned to ride a shiny blue Schwinn with training wheels when I was four and a half- a joint effort on behalf of my parents. I was loathe to move up from my teal tricycle, but with two younger siblings vying for it - the pressure was on. The first day I caught my front wheel in a crack in the sidewalk and went down- hard. The second day I ran into a decorative boulder in the neighbor's flower bed. The third day, with training wheels rattling, I was flying. The day the training wheels came off my mom and dad and sisters clapped for me as I flew down the street - of course, I crashed. However, I was back up and riding. I had a hot pink bike I adored that was stolen in recent years. I would love to get back to riding a bike.

I would love to win the pretty shiny big girl bike so that I can attach a baby trailer and tootle around with my two girls getting them jazzed up to be bike riders and have healthy lifestyles. Lately we have been walking to the gym, but oh, how great to sail down there on a shiny yellow bike.

OMG! I love riding a bike. It really is a thrill. I think I look like a maniac when I ride around town because I am always working my hardest and I always have a crazy grin on my face. I truly love riding my bike.

I currently have a mountain bike which I bought 8 years ago when I didn't know anything about bikes or bike riding (other than I loved it; I am a lifetime bike ride lover). I have been wanting to get a new street bike for a few years, but they are SO EXPENSIVE!

I learned to ride a bike when I was very young. I believe I was three or four. I remember my brother, who is 4 years older, teaching me in the parking lot of our apartment complex. I don't think it took much time to learn. I don't remember any crashes or horror stories while learning, thought I have had a few scuffs since.

Once I was riding, I never looked back. I have always owned a bike and I have always gone for bike rides. I have flipped over the handle bars, been hit by a car and fallen many times. But I still get on and ride as much as I can. With a helmet, of course!

Thanks for the opportunity to win this awesome lipton bike! I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed!

thesetiredthighs@gmail.com

I learned to ride a bike with help from my grandpa, who would do "power pushes" to get me going. Once you go fast enough, the pedaling and balance gets much easier :)

The thing that stands out most in my mind is while I was learning I used to use this wooden square that surrounded one of the trees in our backyard. It was like a wood sandbox and it had a tree and dirt in the middle. I would get on my bike while standing next to it, put one foot on a pedal and the other foot on top of the wood to get my balance. Then I would push of the wood and attempt to ride. I don't remember how successful I was with this and if this is the only way I learned. I don't remember what any of my first bikes looked like either.
I'm looking foward to teaching my son to ride a bike, he's 2 1/2 right now. We have to get to the training wheels first.

I learnt how to drive a bike in India (that's where I grew up)and being the smart ass I thought I was, (I was six with an attitude, girls, girls)I figured, oh how difficult it can be, after all I have been driving my tricycle for years now. So one day, i pick up my elder sister's bike and there i go on the road and suddenly comes a pack of cows infront of me.(no i didnt live on a farm, cows have as much right to walk on the road as much as any human, rocks, insects, dogs do.) So suddenly I see a pack of cows infront of me and I forgot wear the brakes were. I go hit the cow straight in her stomach and next thing I know, I am riding another cow, going wherever they were going after they got confused as to why a bike would hit them. Thank God, it happened only once and neither the animal nor the six year old got hurt. Only thing that got hurt was my six year old attitude. :-)

My first bike was a Desert Rose banana-seat bike and it was pretty in white, pink, and grey while I still had the training wheels on. Once those trainers came off, though, I was set loose down the driveway and crashed into the chain-link fence that lined the side yard, which not only scratched up my beautiful bike, but it took a nice gouge out of my thumb, too. Stupid fence! A couple of wailing tears to my mom and a bandage later, I was back out trying it again, this time, no crashes. I was probably the happiest 7-yr old on the block that day.

My first bike was a hand-me-down banana seat that was once Hot Rode red, but by the time I got it (in the 90's!), it was a dark maroon color. It had a chain guard painted with the logo Red Foxx and a sleek cartoon fox. It was completely awesome.

I started with training wheels of course, and I don't remember how old I was when they came off, but I do remember that it was my grandfather who held the metal support at back of the seat and ran alongside until I had the momentum to go on my own. As soon as I did, though, you couldn't stop me.

I rode everywhere, gave my younger cousins rides on the long seat behind me, played Bike Manhunt (it's rough finding a hiding spot when you also have to hide your bike...), and rode from my parents to my grandparents' and friends' houses all the time.

When I was a kid and my parents were still together, my family would take neighborhood bike rides. The memory I think I have of this is probably from being told about it, because my older brother and I were young enough to have to ride in child seats on the back of our mother's and father's bikes, and my older sister, who was only about six, had to do her best to keep up on her banana-seat Schwinn. I don't have any stand-out memories of learning to ride myself. I know I had training wheels for a while, I think my mother ran alongside holding the handlebar until I could balance. I'm sure I fell a numerous times before I got it-- maybe a metaphor for the struggle to lose weight? I remember teaching my friend Jeannette's little brother Steven how to ride his bike using that same method a couple of summers later, and being really proud of myself when he got it.

I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was in third grade. Oh sure, I'd given it a try earlier - about the time when other neighborhood kids were starting to ridicule my training wheels - but I crashed and burned and vowed to never get on a bike again. Then third grade rolled around and at my grade school that was the grade that you became eligible to ride your buke to school if you passed the bike safety test which would be held at school on the playground and was a manditory event. To this point, none of my classmates really knew that I couldn't ride a bike because after all - only babies couldn't ride bikes. So in one week, I had to get out my bike and learn to ride well enough to get to school. It's amazing what a motivator impending shame is - I managed to 'master' the art of the two-wheeler in an afternoon (with only a few minor mishaps) and I indeed did make it to Bike Safety Day and pass with flying colors.

I was a cryer when I was a child. I cried about learning to do everything: tie my shoes, jump rope, and ride a bike.

I had the bike with training wheels forever, and when my dad tried to teach me without them I refused until I realized I was the uncoolest nerd around with my training wheels. I finally gave in and he did the old running behind me until I was pedaling, then he stepped back and I noticed immediately and crashed myself into a mailbox and skinned my knee.

It took about 2 more weeks after that, but I finally accomplished it. I own a bike now (my hubby got it for me for my birthday and the weight is coming off!) but this one would be for him.

I have no memory of LEARNING to ride a bike... I just remember the feeling of freedom I had when I was riding it. I could GO PLACES! I earned extra money with it delivering newspapers from a giant basket on the handlebars. These days, I'm looking towards a bike again for freedom from the pump. Even though my car is small and isn't much of a gas hog, $40 to fill it up every couple of weeks is too much for me... So it's back to the bike. This summer, I will teach my son the fine art of "urban assault" - otherwise known as riding your bike in the city.

I don't remember learning to ride. But I do remember my green banana seat bike-- so cute but so hard to use to get anywhere. It was replaced with a green (why green? it wasn't my favorite color) five-speed Schwinn. It wasn't until I'd fought with the Schwinn for a few years that I got the decent 10-speed that was both transporation (suburbia, and I didn't have a car) and recreation all through high school.

I miss the feeling of freedom I got riding aimlessly at night, following random roads to see where they'd take me.

My father took the training wheels off my bike and told me to get on the bike and he'd be holding it up behind me. He went around the back yard with me and we made a loop. Of course, I was too stupid to realize that after a while, he had stoped walking along with me and I was on my own. Of course, looking back and seeing him standing a ways away made me realize I was on my own and immediately I lost balance and control and crashed. But then I got back on and suddenly, I could ride a bike! Thanks, Dad!

I can vaguely remember when I learned to ride a bike. What stands out the most is the color of the bike itself: purple (my favorite color at the time) with a big white basket decorated with purple flowers (I was undeniably a child of the 80s). There was a big field behind my house, and my dad took me back there after removing my training wheels. As the story goes, after one mighty push from him, I was off and riding, and didn't fall once. For whatever reason though, I seem to recall falling once I actually tried it on the pavement. Figures that I'd pick that point to fall, when there was no cushy landing of grass available. :)

My first bike was yellow, too! It was a used boys' bike, but I didn't mind. I also had the traditional "parents-hold-then-let-go" route, though it took me forever to get to that stage, as I clung to the training wheels as long as I could.

A few years later I got a bike of my own, a grown-up women's bike, in purple, from my parents for christmas. Then tried it out on the ice, which resulted in a bloodied leg and a lesson learned about lack of friction and bicycle tires.

It took me forever to learn. I got my first bike with training wheels (a pink Huffy with streamers on the handles and a white basket on the front--very girly) for my fifth birthday, and I didn't learn how to ride w/o training wheels for three years. It's a long story about frustration, psyching myself out, overthinking things and choking and feeling like a failure. Then one day it all clicked and I could ride--and then I fell off the bike (the VERY same day) and broke my ankle and spent the next several weeks hobbling around on crutches. Seriously.

But the good thing is that as soon as the cast was off, I got back on the bike and rode it (and its successors) like crazy. And now I'm getting back into riding again.

I know that I learned to ride a bike when I was a kid, and that my dad helped me, and that I had my training wheels on for probably longer than I was supposed to. What's most memorable for me is learning how to re-ride a bike after a nasty fall about five years ago that left me in the hospital for several days and required surgery. I hadn't been on a bike since that accident until about a month ago, but now I'm training for a 100 mile race!

I grew up in the country. We didn't have any sidewalks, our short driveway was gravel, and the road we lived on was a state highway. Our yard was hilly and mostly filled with grass up to your knees. So I had no flat surfaces on which to learn to ride a bike. I was 12 years old and embarrasingly, still couldn't ride a bike. I got a beautiful powder blue 3 speed bike for christmas (it even had a basket in the front), but all I could do was sit on it and dream of riding it.
One day we visited my cousins in the city. They, of course, had bikes and sidewalks on which to ride them. My cousin let me try her bike, and surprisingly, I managed to ride it!!
There were no training wheels, no overprotective adult behind me holding the bike up and pushing me. Just me and my overwhelming desire to learn to ride a bike.
Once I had learned the basics, I started riding my bike in the gravel driveway and eventually in our hilly, grassy yard. (Talk about a leg workout!)

Learning to ride that bike was one of the greatest accomplishments of my childhood. It taught me that I can do whatever I put my mind to. And I've kept that lesson close to my heart ever since.

PS question for Jennette-- In your interview at Elastic Waist today, you mention "lean meats." Is it deliberate that you're calling out meat, actual animal product, as opposed to lean protein?

My dad taught me when I was 6. We had a long gravel driveway and he would run behind me while holding onto the back of the seat. After he'd let go, I'd freak out and subsequently wipe out in the gravel. My knees and elbows took a beating that day and Mom spent some time picking gravel out of my skin. I still remember the bike. I don't know where they got it (just about everything that would have been a "big ticket" item in the early 70's was a hand me down from someone in my dad's extended family) but it was a beautiful blue with a white seat that was on springs so you had a cushy ride. I miss that bike.

Well, I don't remember learning how to ride a bike, but I remember re-learning as an adult. I was maybe 17, and visiting Belgium, and we had to ride bikes to get around. I remember being very shaky and finding it hard to maneuver around obstacles, but I gradually built up my confidence. Around 1994 I bought my own new bike, a mountain bike, and I fell in love with off-road cycling. I still love it with a passion -- just thinking about singletrack makes me smile -- but I haven't managed to actually DO any of it for quite some time. Riding a bike does remind me of my youthful spirit, when I get sheer pleasure out of movement, and muscles, and the wind blowing through my hair.

I think when I finally got the hang of it I was on the tennis courts of our neighborhood playground. I do recall the excitement of realizing that I was actually doing it and bike riding continued to bring me joy for a lot of childhood years. I also just recently taught my 7 year old son to ride and he is loving it! I'd love to get back on a bike and ride with him someday soon.

The learned to ride a bike the way most little boys do. I got chickenpox.

Technically, I was recovering from the chickenpox. I felt better, but I was still too sick to go outside with my friends. Consequently my parents “quarantined” me to our garage which, incidentally, is a GREAT place to learn to ride a bike (smooth riding surface, easy access to Band-Aids, etc)…as long as you don’t mind occasionally running into walls or parked cars.

Therefore, by necessity, learning to ride a bike involved the added challenge of learning to ride tight little circles…but I eventually figured it out. I also became very good at “ejecting” when it became apparent my circle had gotten too big and I was about to hit a wall.

I wasn’t a small child…but my bike was made for one. In fact, if I had to estimate, I would say I was at least twice and maybe three times too big for the bike I was riding.

Oh, one more thing, the bike was pink.

Looking back, I’m pretty sure I looked like a diseased and disturbed little circus clown. There I was-- covered in pockmarks and calamine lotion--riding a miniature, pink bike for hours in tiny, concentric circles.

That probably explains why—as soon as I was old enough—I went off and joined that carnival!

Actually, that last part isn’t true, but it would have made such a great story I decided to go with it. Instead of joining the carnival, however, I went the other way. I joined grad school.

If I would have joined the carnival, I’d be getting a lot more exercise these days. Instead I spend most of my time “researching.” “Researching” is a term that graduate students around the world use to describe what they do because it sounds a lot better than “sitting on my butt doing nothing.”

I can “research” just as easily while riding a bike, and I know the fresh air and exercise will do me good.

I just need to find a place to ride it…Can I borrow your garage?

Since my parents were adamant that they would not take off the training wheels until I was 7 years old and given that I am a stubborn pushy person, I borrowed my friend's bike and taught myself to ride sans wheels at 5!

My sister took off my training wheels. I was absolutely FURIOUS. I was NOT ready to ride that bike without the extra wheels. I cried, stomped my feet, and went all red.

Then, I got on the bike with her beside me and... Ohmigosh, I can do it!

I vaguely remember getting the smallest little white/pink bike that could be found by my parents. I remember using training wheels at first and at some point the training wheels went away. I then progressed to the typical banana seat bike, and then to a light blue ten speed. I just started biking again a few years ago and I LOVE it!

Your interview was great! Wouldn't you love to have the make-up and hair guy in your bathroom daily....little guy just pops out of a drawer. LOL

I learned to RELEARNED to ride a bike at age 24. I had joined WW and started walking everyday. My leader talked about riding her bike daily and how much she enjoyed it combined with her classes. I told my husband I wanted to get a bike which was met with a look of shock knowing I had been in a bad bike accident when I was 13. I was looking back at my brother and hit a parked car causing me to fly up over the hood and broke my arm in two places and left road rash from my forehead to my ankle. We went that weekend and bought us both bikes. We took them to the bike trail about 6 AM Sunday morning so we wouldn't be in anyone's way and I wobbled and weaved until I got confident enough again to soar. After that we took them camping all over Texas. When I had my first child I got a baby carrier as a shower gift from a friend who knew how much I loved to ride. By the time the oldest was old enough to ride his own bike and keep up my youngest was ready for the carrier. I donated the carrier when R got to big for it. My bike was stolen when we moved 2 years ago and now I ride my son's bike in the mornings before the boys get up and on weekends they go with dad.

Growing up with a twin turns every milestone in life into a competition. My parents always rehash on how when at 9 months I was walking circles around my still crawling twin brother and he was trying to pull me down as he was not yet read to take those first steps. When my twin and I started talking it was a battle of who could say the full first word first, I of course was able to successfully produce the word “Daddy” as my brother was still mastering “Dada.” There was the first day of school, where I jumped on the bus first with no hesitation and then there was when our little sister came around and I was the first to hold her with no adult arms lingering about. I was becoming good at winning the milestone competition until the time came to take the training wheels off. I was determined to ride with just two wheels, however gravity had other plans and preferred me on two feet instead. I grew frustrated as we practiced in our church parking not being able to make it very far and always ending up on the ground. This however was a milestone competition my twin brother succeeded at. He mastered his red bike in a matter of an hour and was riding circles around the parking lot with ease. I remember being so jealous as he was allowed to take a trip around the block on his bike with our Mom because he was successful without the training wheels. I cried my little eyes out as they rode away around the corner from our house and waited patiently for their return. When they returned I was not the only one with tears in my eyes, my twin had taken a big spill and now possessed a bloody knee. Is it wrong that a smile appeared across my face? I take shame in it now how jealous I was of my twin brother for riding his bike before me, looking back I giggle about how much of a brat I truly was and am proud to say that those qualities do not shine through today. My poor brother never meant to cause me any harm nor I to him. Eventually I learned to ride the bike on my own, but I will never forget the first day I tried and my brother took off without me. I will also never forget his bloody knee from returning with out me.

Hey- I remember my first two wheel bicycle. I was learning to ride and my family was on a serious buget. I got to have my sisters outgrown bicycle with a new banana seat and sissy bar handle bars with tassles out the end. It took awhile for the training wheels to come off. I remember my dad kept raising them up a little every once in awhile. I would just keep riding on them. Going down the street at a 30 degree angle. He finally took them off and I could right upright, wow what a day! I was pretty sharp going down the street! Great memories. The smell of Southern California ice plant and you crashed into it. Yeah, I did alot of that too. :)

Love your book! Got it last week.

My older cousin Amy taught me how to ride a bike in the early 70's. She had this big yellow smiley face watch that I really loved. She told me if I would learn how to ride on two wheels she would give it to me. I guess that was all the motivation I needed!

Congrats on the publising and the half marathon!

My first bike was bright yellow and had a banana seat and curved handlebars. I think my parents scrounged it out of a nearby garage sale. No training wheels; my dad was running behind me holding the seat until he wasn't. Of course, as soon as I realized he wasn't, I fell over. But I managed to get back on and figure it out. I loved that bike -- I would spend hours riding around my neighborhood looking at all the houses and exploring on my own.

My mom taught me to ride. Apparently she and my dad had a deal. She'd teach me to ride a bike, he'd teach me to drive a car. Apparently she thought the Schwinn was safer than the Subaru.

Huh. I never win nuthin' -- I'm doomed.

I taught myself how to ride a bike when I was 6. Not an exciting story, but I'm glad I did. Cycling is an exercise that you can start doing even when you're overweight, and it's fun!

I remember asking my dad to take off my training wheels ... I was sick of them being uneven and rocking back and forth on the bike.... so he took them off and sent me outside. By myself! I am not that adventurous ... I remember pedaling for 1 second and putting my feet down to stabilize myself and kept going until I was going a 20-30 feet at a time and took off from there. Now I live in New York City and haven't ridden a bike in years ... I think if I win I'll have to re-learn how to ride a bike on these mean streets!

My first bike (the Desert Rose) didn't have training wheels, and combined with my lack of athletic ability, I delayed learning. Finally my parents bribed me with a hamster. I'd always wanted a pet. To earn it I had to ride my bike to a certain house and back.

Our driveway was hilly, but our neighbors were on vacation so I used their flat driveway for a week, and mastered bike riding. I earned that hamster in no time, and was able to join my friends on their bikes!

I was a late bloomer when it came to learning how to ride a bike for the most part because my father ran over the bike when I parked it behind his truck when I was five. I was devastated as the bike was days old and he was angry because it could have hurt his truck. So it wasn't until I was nine that opportunity knocked on my door. My sister had out grown her bike and I wanted to learn. Both my parents were out on errands and my two older sisters wanted to go on a bike ride (those were the days when no one thought twice about kids being on their own). I started to cry because I didn't know how to ride. My sisters thought this would be a great way to get away from the pesky younger sister. So I was left trying to learn by myself in our garage. I would sit on the seat and balance myself with one hand on the wall of the garage and try and push off and peddle. Tearful but determined I finally got the knack of it. It was a great self esteem builder.

I've never been particularly interested in having a nice car, but I definitely remember my first bike (and learning to ride it). It was purple; the handbars were decked out with a bell and streamers...but most importantly, it had a bananna seat. This perfectly suited my six year old tastes. Learning to ride a bike was a perfect reason to wear my favorite item of clothing; a pair of neon orange biker pants with a black stripe going down the side. Finally, in the name of safety, I had a big "Bell" brand bike helmet that I got to decorate with stickers of red lips, sunglasses, peace signs, and other AWESOME symbols. I started with training wheels of course...my transition to training wheel-less bike riding must have been pretty seamless, because I don't recall any traumatic incidents. Mainly, what I remember (somewhat nostalgically) is I haven't looked that awesome since my early bike riding days.

I learned to ride when I was 10 or so, my niece and nephew were 5 and 6 years younger and they both knew how to ride so the pressure was on. I finally learned on an old bike from the 70's that my sister had left at our house and didn't have my own yet since, I didn't know how to ride one. It had a crazy leopard seat, a blue sissy back, and red frame. that was a bike! I always pretended I was riding a motorcycle when I was on it. those were fun days, riding the bike all day with not a care in the world,nothing on tv in the early 80's either. 4 channels.

I learned to ride a bike on an old red hand-me-down that had wooden pedals! When I graduated from training wheels, I was so scared that I would tip over when I stopped that I would fling my legs over to one side and jump off!

I don't remember learning how to ride, I guess it was too long ago! I do remember having a terrible accident in 8th grade, and I didn't ride for a while after that! Wear a helmet! I'd love to win this... gas is killing me...

As a city girl, I learned to ride a bike one summer in my uncle's cow pasture, wobbling around cow pies on very uneven ground, dodging the stray confused cow, with my cousins running alongside shouting encouragement. It was a grand dirty adventure.
I would love a new bike, and if I win - I will ride! (but not in a cow pasture)

I was a goober and didn't learn to ride a bike without training wheels or assistance until I was 10. I think it was because I was afraid of falling off. Hopefully this won't sound too cheesy but I've missed out on a lot of things do to unnecessary fear and I am trying to not to let fear prevent me from trying new things anymore.

I don't exactly remember how I learned to ride a bike. I do remember, though, having perpetual scabby knees because I always fell off my bike.... These days, biking is my primary mode of transportation--it saves gas money, and it incorporates my workout into my commute. I love it!

I learned to ride a bike using training wheels and probably rode with the training wheels on much longer than I needed to. I remember visiting our cousins in Mississippi one Thanksgiving and getting on theirs (minus the training wheels) and being truly amazed that I could ride the bike without the training wheels. As a side note, if I remember correctly, my twin sister wasn't as fortunate and crashed.

Oh I want that bike! Although since I have two sitting in my living room right now, I think my mom would argue otherwise! A yellow one would look great with my collection.
I learned to ride at my preschool. They had these short bikes for us to use. For the longest time I had to use the tricycle. I was always jealous of the kids with the two wheelers. I went home one night and my parents helped me with a two wheeler on my grass. It was great. I biked out of our grass and onto the neighboorhood road and kept going. The only problem is I didn't know how to stop, so i crashed in the grass!

Oh I want that bike! Although since I have two sitting in my living room right now, I think my mom would argue otherwise! A yellow one would look great with my collection.
I learned to ride at my preschool. They had these short bikes for us to use. For the longest time I had to use the tricycle. I was always jealous of the kids with the two wheelers. I went home one night and my parents helped me with a two wheeler on my grass. It was great. I biked out of our grass and onto the neighboorhood road and kept going. The only problem is I didn't know how to stop, so i crashed in the grass!

It's a wonder I ever learned how to ride a bike. Post-training wheels, I was coasting down my road, ready to stop myself with my feet when I heard a crash and a thud. My show-off brother had gone down my neighbor's steep driveway, flipped over the handlebars, and broken his jaw.

After having to run the 1/2 mile home to alert my mom rather than just jump on my bike, I decided I had to learn, just in case my brother tried to break himself again!