The Awesome Giant

Meet my pink bike, "The Awesome Giant." When I first got this bike in elementary school I hated it. I remember the day my mom took me to look at it. Someone was selling it for $60 and she really wanted me to take it for a test ride. I was a tom boy. I refused to own anything pink. But my mom told me to give it chance. "Just close your eyes and let yourself feel how the bike rides," she said.

But it was too late. I had already made up my mind. I was never going to ride a pink bike to school. But I agreed to ride it, just to please her. The minute my feet hit the pedals, my mind started to change, although I didn't want it to. I began to think...my old bike is smaller, doesn't have shifting gears or a water bottle holder, my old bike is a hand-me-down,

my old bike is for a little girl. This bike is for a teenager, and it would be all my own. After riding to the stop sign and back, I reluctantly gave in. As time went on, the "Awesome Giant" became my best friend. This also marked the beginning of my transformation from tom boy, to girly (athletic) girl.

Now, about ten years later, I adore everything about my bike. It takes me to school, to work, to the store and on river trail adventures. It carries me through my cross training days, giving my muscles, bones and joints a rest from the pounding pain of marathon running. It glides with me on Sunday afternoons and waits patiently for rainy weekends to pass. I'm so glad I gave "The Awesome Giant" a chance to prove that pink bikes really are worth riding.