Bicycle Wreck

Did you ever have your dad knock you off your bicycle? On purpose? I did. Really! Without warning – just boom - he knocked me right to the ground.

I suppose I should explain.

At the ripe old age of six, I made an executive decision that I needed a new bike. I had a bike already, and it was pretty new, but it wasn’t a ten-speed. I needed a ten-speed.

I saved my money for a whole year and shortly after my seventh birthday, purchased a brand new, orange ten-speed for $67.00 – a lot of money for a kid in the seventies.

I’d had the bike less than a week when my brother and I, along with my dad, went for a bike ride. They were a little ways ahead because I was still struggling with operating the gears and my short legs didn’t seem to fit the 26-inch frame. I know, a smaller frame would’ve been better but, that bike was the one I wanted – the others were not orange. For some reason the color seemed to matter a lot.

My dad and brother had stopped to wait while I figured out how to work the gears and then hurried to catch up. Not wanting to stop, once I’d gotten started, I thought I would just go around them and they could follow. But, right at the moment I reached my dad, his hand shot out, literally knocking me off the bike! I went crashing to the ground, as did my brand new bicycle.

I do remember a surprised and worried look on his face. And before his hand sent my flying, I do remember him saying something. Something. I didn’t know what. Apparently, the what (I later learned) was for me to stop. But, seeing I wasn’t paying attention to him, or the car on the road – the one I was about to ride in front of – my dad pushed me in the opposite direction. I ended up in the dirt and my bike continued on a little further, coming to rest on a rock. I was not hurt, just a little dirty – far better than if I’d been run over by the car!

The only damage to the bike was a six-inch scratch on the frame. Right on the top. Right where I could always see it. And that was good. It served as a constant reminder to look before riding into a road. After all, my dad wasn’t always going to be around to save me by knocking me off my bike!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and 9 books. Over My Dead Body, and The Journey, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit www.bruceaborders.com. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders