When I was a kid, my sister and I didn’t hesitate to venture out on our bikes.
I have an early memory of heading off to a pharmacy several miles away that had a lunch counter with candy and snowballs. We were young — I guess too young to be making the trek across three busy streets — and my sister remembers my mom having a fit when she found out. All I remember was the sweet freedom of heading out on our own to stock up on candy. Once we had survived that first trip, my parents let out the leash and allowed more bike trips to the pharmacy. Eventually, we ventured even farther — to a dime store 3 or 4 miles away that had great stuff like cheap records, press-on nails and posters of preteen heart throbs.
My husband has similar memories of bike riding escapades. On summer days, he’d bike several miles to Patapsco Valley State Park, lock his bike to a tree and explore the park for hours with friends. He’d make longer treks to friends houses and even to the mall nearly 10 miles away.
Our kids, on the other hand, haven’t ventured beyond our neighborhood on their bikes — that is, until this week. Out of necessity, two of them have had to bike 2.5 miles to work at our community pool. My oldest, who is a month shy of driving, was stressed about the idea of traveling on the busy roads, so my husband did a trial run with them last weekend. I think they were amazed at how easy it was.
I’m not sure why they haven’t taken off on their bikes like my husband and I once did. It might be that they think they aren’t allowed, though I’m pretty sure our parents weren’t encouraging us to head out on busy roads when we were kids. It might also be the “unsafe” mentality our our world today — with constant news about robberies, abductions and bikers getting hit by texting drivers. Or it might be the over scheduled nature of their lives which leaves very little time for exploration. Or maybe it’s that we live so close to a 7-Eleven, they can walk to get that same sense of sweet freedom I had to bike for.
Whatever the reason, I’m sorry that they’ve missed out on the sense of adventure and independence that was a staple in our lives as kids. I hope the experience of biking to work opens their world a little this summer. If nothing else, I hope it gives my oldest a sense of comfort being out on the road by herself before she gets her license.
As for any robbers, abductors and texting drivers — please steer clear of my kids this summer!
If you want to get your kids comfortable biking, check out this story on 7 Maryland bike trails fit for the family
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FranklyStein is a blog by Chesapeake Family Magazine editor Betsy Stein who lives in Catonsville with her husband, Chris, and four children, Maggie, 16, Lilly, 14, Adam, 14, and Jonah, 10.
