Nice story.! The pride and happiness certainly does show in your face.

I just read--in Wired magazine of all places--that you should ride a bike like an 11 year old. Just ride for fun and to get where you want to go!

I remember when I was 10 or 11, riding with a couple friends on the square mile of roads around our house in suburban Detroit. I remember that when I was almost home, I slid out on wet blacktop and was covered with black goo and gravel from head to toe. An old man rinsed me off with his hose, but I still needed a kerosene bath when I got home.

But that mishap didn't spoil it for me. I've had a lot of accomplishments in my life, but none made me prouder than that 4 mile ride with no adults and no real clear idea of where we were going.

(For those of you who know Detroit--11 Mile Rd. to Dequindre to 12 Mile to John R. At that time, in the mid-1960s, there were even a couple farmhouses still standing along the route!)