When I was a teenager there was a period of a few years when I rode bicycles of various types. The first one that I can remember was a BMX dirt bike, not a fancy one. This I rode to school and back and to my friends and in the fields next to my house.

I used to live in a bit of a dead-end, just two houses on each side of the street and then the road ended. Past that was this large field, at least 1000 feet square, overgrown with this sort of dry, long grass. It was irregular, full of little dips and hills, and lots of animal holes. I'd walk across it as a short cut and pick up all these burrs on my pants.

Anyway, my first bicycle was pretty solid. My dad bought it and assembled it. Sacramento, being inland, has some interesting temperature differences. The mornings were cold, with cars covered in frost. But by the time I went home from school it was 90-100 degrees F. So going to school on my bike meant wearing relatively heavy clothes in the morning and then putting those clothes in my backpack and lugging them home after school. This perhaps explains why I lost quite a few sweaters and jackets when I started taking a bus to high school.

I remember one day when I rode to school in a t-shirt and shorts, as it was already a warm morning. But by the time school ended it was pouring a heavy, cold rain. That was interesting riding home, getting pushed around by the wind and rain. Not being able to see very well (it wasn't that bright what with the cloud cover).

After I got bigger my parents bought me a 3-speed bicycle. A little too big for me as I couldn't quite reach the ground when I was stopped. But it was fun, faster than the BMX and the first time that I had to deal with gears. About this time I started high school so I only rode my bicycle to my friend's house, where we would catch the bus to school. Then after school I could pick up my bike from my friend's.

One day I was riding along, enjoying the day. Nice sunny day. I had gotten to the point where I could keep the bike going without using the handlebars (hey, I'm not that physically adept, it took me a while). So I was riding, letting my bike coast while I sat up and let the wind blow by me with my eyes closed.

That was a mistake. I opened my eyes just in time to see the parked car as I slammed into it. I kept going and landed on the trunk of the car, none the worse for wear. When I checked my bike I found that the steering column was bent such that the front wheel couldn't turn without hitting the frame. Tried to fix it later but couldn't.

So I got another bike. This time a ten-speed. This one I trashed after a couple of months when I got hit by a car. I was going to the mall to buy some comic books. Now, my house is south of the American River, the mall is north of it. And there are only a few roads going over the river. The closest one to me is Watt Avenue, which goes over Highway 50 and then over the American River.

There's usually a lot of traffic merging in and out of the I-50 at Watt. This particular time I'm riding down hill heading for a junction where I-50 traffic merges into Watt. I see a car on my right coming in from I-50 and I judge it's far enough away. I speed along (downhill) and as I pass the merge point I get hit from behind. I flip, my bike goes somewhere, I roll head over heels a lot. Needless to say, that trashed my bike, although I escaped with some cuts and bruises only (and just my limbs).

After that I stopped riding bicycles.