My first bike-related memory was watching with envy all the 'big kids' tearing around the neighborhood on their bikes. I had a training wheels on my bike at the time. I remember wanting to learn how to ride fast like them and one of them offered to teach me, but I was too chicken.

A couple of years later, I remember riding in the parking lot of the local strip mall on a Sunday back when all stores were closed on Sundays. All I remember was making a sharp turn and hitting one of my pedals on the ground. The handlebars swung at me and one of them dug into my ribs causing me to lose my breath for the first time in my life. It scared the crap out of me.

The next Sunday, my dad made me ride again. I never looked back!