Some of my earliest memories are me riding my bicycle, so it feels as if I have been riding one my whole life. I learned how my ride my bike at a pretty young age, well before kindergarten. My father took me and my older sister's bike down to the new neighborhood development which was just a huge cleared lot with a newly paved road through it at the time. I hopped on the bike and he guided me for a few seconds, then suddenly he let go and I was off. It was a great new sense of freedom being in control of my speed and where I go, gliding across the pavement. Immediately being able to ride a bike gave the young me a huge confidence boost and really triggered my passion for bikes from the start.
    

Through elementary school I would ride in my yard, through trails, and on the road to my friends houses. To reward me for good grades, my parents would sometimes get me a new bike from Walmart when I needed an upgrade. This was a good in assisting me to take responsibility for my grades at a young age. Back in elementary school one of my favorite things to do with my bike was to make my own courses with dirt jumps and some home made ramps. This kept me outside and doing physical activity for great deals of time, sometimes it would take me many days of work just to dig one dirt jump. I would scrape up my legs, arms and occasionally my face but in the end it was all worth it to land my jumps and taught me to not give up.
    

Into middle school my biking slowed down a bit, I had stopped making jumps and riding around town. I am not sure why I stopped, it was probably just the stresses of middle school causing me to forget about it for a bit. Then, in my freshman year of high school I bought a pretty nice mountain bike. It felt great to be back out in the woods again riding on trails. I used the bike for a couple summers to go to and from work every day. Also, I fixed up one of my old jumps and made a few new ones. It also takes a lot less time for a teenager to build jumps than a child. I have continued enjoying the bike through my high school days. I'm not so much into jumps anymore, but I really love taking the bike through the woods and feeling weightless and free when I speed through the trees. My bicycle has never let me down from the start, it has taught me wonderful lessons, filled me with excitement, and has gotten me closer to nature and more importantly myself. I had put it down after elementary school for years and hopped back on in it high school and achieved the same exact feeling of freedom, which is something I will never forget.