As with most other children, our primary mode of transportation was the bicycle. Growing up, we rode a wide array of bikes, from stingrays to ten speeds. What separated us from the other kids in the neighborhood was an attitude that our father had instilled in us: Anything worth doing was only done to the best of your ability; push yourself in all endeavors, be it in school or at play, and constantly test your limits. Unfortunately, when we tested our limits outside of school, we were usually testing the P’s[1] just to see how much we could get away with.     Of the three of us, I was the last to learn to ride, even though I was the oldest. I could never quite master cycling.  Rather, the bike dominated me.

One cycling game that was very popular in the neighborhood was high speed skidding. Since we weren’t allowed to ride bikes in the street, we stuck to the sidewalks. One of us would come down the long, steep driveway of the Baker’s, which was our next door neighbor to the above us,  making  a sharp left turn on the sidewalk, trying to maintain as much Momentum as possible. Our driveway and the Taylor’s were side by side and were separated only by a narrow strip of grass. The idea was to cut the corner of our driveway, cross the short stretch of grass, then hit the brakes to see who could come closer to the rail fence that ran the perimeter of the Taylor’s front yard.

There were only two hazards on the course. First if you hit the brakes too soon on the grassy stretch, more than likely the back of the bike was going to slide out from under you, in which case the Taylor driveway was going to eat you up and spit you out. Then, there was the classic wait to long to hit the brakes, in which case you had to slide the bike out from under you purposefully with the same results. All of us at one time or another were sidelined with major brush burns to various parts of the body due to encounters with Mr. Driveway.

The bike of choice, when playing this game, was the stingray. This bike had high handle bars and coaster brakes on the rear wheel. All you had to do was push back on the pedal to lock the back wheel and you could put the other foot down to help with the balance. This also gave you a distinct flair when performing the stunt. The drawback to the game, in the P’s eyes, was wear and tear.