Trying to collect my thoughts, I opened my eyes to see everyone hovering over me. As I got up, I noticed that I was within a few feet from the lake. I looked around to see my bike lying next to me. What was going on?
I'm on vacation, and I just got a brand new bike. I made my parents allow me to take it with us. There was this enormous hill, and I thought riding down it would be a blast. Getting up the hill would be hard, though. I pedaled as fast as I could and finally made it to the top. As I looked down, I realized how steeply it dropped. Should I do it? Or not? I pushed those thoughts aside and went for it. As I barreled down the hill, I remembered that I didn't know how to use the brakes. How can I stop myself? When I made my way down the hill, I couldn’t stop. I felt like I was flying! There was this little tiny ledge where we parked our cars, and I thought I'd ride over there and that it would stop me. Nope, it sure didn't. I jumped the ledge, landed perfectly, and rode to the edge of the lake. I finally stopped about 3 feet from the water. I was so scared; I was certain that I was going to end up in the lake. As shocking as it may sound, my parents didn't let me ride my bike for the rest of the week.
This memory is permanently stuck in my mind forever. With me being so young at the time, it scarred me for life. I didn’t ride my bike for almost a year after this incident. As foolish as it may seem, I still don’t ride my bike very often. At least I can say that I know how to use the brakes now!