Quote Originally Posted by laughlaugh18
I guess that's one good thing about being short - when I learned to ride (at age 12 - a late bloomer), it never even occurred to me that it might be possible to put both feet on the ground at the same time, not even on the Stingray I was taught on!
That's what it was! Being short! I remember my first bike: bluegreen, white trim, and chrome. And there was this headlight built into the front, with a huge battery compartment between the tubes. I was five, I think. It had 24" wheels, and there was NO way I could touch the ground from the seat. Heck, for the first while, it was mighty danged challenging to reach the pedals when I was on the seat! Yup, that would have been when I learned to hop off the seat when I wanted to stop -- and boy howdy, do I still remember one particularly sudden dismount where I had hit a bump in the road at the same time I was trying to get down from the seat....

Karen in Boise, who learned early about top-bar clearance!