The Life Cycle of of a Bike

I was born in China; my body was assembled by various workers, who at the end welded me together. Then I was sent to a special bath so my paint would stick to me much better, and I stood in line to be painted green. When I saw a different color, I jumped out of the line and pushed myself somehow to the red color line, which was more to my liking.

Later I was added the rest of my components like saddle, wheels, handle bars, gears, pedals and chain. Ferrara was the Italian name they gave me. I was protected with cardboard and bubble wrap and put in a container for my trip to Canada, which was a very long journey.

Finally, I found myself in a beautiful sales room with many other bicycles of different colors and sizes and we all were competing with each other to be sold to a nice person, who would take care of us.

A father entered the store with three girls looking for a bike for the oldest one to ride to school. I decided that this was the family that I wanted to be with and made some noise and moved forward so they could notice me.

Suzy, the oldest, saw me and looked at my name and said: "Sounds like Ferrari, my favorite sport car; this is the one I want." It was love at first sight; they took me to their home and the father also bought her a helmet, telling her: "Suzy you must use it every time you ride your bike". I liked what her father said and made sure that she would wear it while she was riding with me.

They placed me in the garage for the night, which was nice and warm. There were two other smaller bikes that belonged to the other sisters; they were in good conditions, so this meant that I too would be treated well.

Next morning, Suzy and I got ready to go to school, and she yelled, "What's wrong with you Ferrari? Why you are not moving?" Then she remembered to put on her helmet and we were on our way.

She was a good rider but she was not paying attention to the road because she was on her cell phone all the time. If it weren't for me, we would have run over a pedestrian lady and been hit by a car upon crossing the street next to the school.

She parked me in a rack outside with other bicycles, which gave me a good feeling because I was not alone. She put a chain with a lock in my front wheel for my protection, and went to her classroom.

From the other bikes next to me, I learned that Suzie was 12 years old and was in the 8th grade. She had asthma as a toddler and with exercise, she has become practically cured and riding a bike was recommended by her doctors and friends.

When the school day was over, all the kids came out screaming and Suzie was yelling, "Where did I park my two-wheel Ferrari?" We returned home and she parked me in my garage, while she went inside for an afternoon snack. I learned the names of the other members of the family from the two smaller bikes in the garage. Suzy's dad was called Herman and the mother was Bertha, and the two sisters were Lisa and Tina.

Later, we went out for a ride to a park where Suzy met many friends, and they all played volleyball for a couple of hours and then returned home for the night.

We rode daily to school except on weekends, holidays and in winter when the snow was too high and I was left home while mother Bertha took the girls to school by car and picked them up in the afternoon.

There was going to be a bicycle race scheduled for the next Sunday at the school, and whoever wanted to participate needed a written authorization from their guardian, plus the use of a helmet which was mandatory. There was going to be various races, according to their ages to give equal opportunity to all the kids.

The day of the event, the whole family showed up to see Suzy and me run, but first we had to watch the smaller children compete. I got very motivated and said to myself that we must win this race, so everybody would notice us.

When our turn came, Suzy started pedaling very strongly and I did my part and gave it an extra push, making us the fastest bike in the race. We won, leaving our competitors far behind. A beautiful trophy was given to Suzy. I was very proud of her. To celebrate, her parents took all of us for an ice cream treat; at that moment I was very happy to be part of this family.

Our daily routine keeps me busy going back and forth to school and meeting her friends in the park or in the ice cream parlor. One day, when Suzy was playing volleyball and I was just lying down on the grass, someone took me racing away and I could not understand what was going on.

After a few seconds, I realized that this man was trying to kidnap me and we were going very fast, the only thing that I could think of was to lock my front wheel.

At that moment the guy was thrown forward and was badly hurt; he could not get up. Then Suzy, who came running after her bicycle arrived, lifted me up and immediately rode back where her friends were waiting for us, delighted with our return.

Upon arriving back at the playground, Suzy parked me next to a light pole and put a chain and locked me up, so what had happened before would not be repeated. This was the way I was protected every time we went out, and I liked it.

Sometimes, father Herman and I went to the nearby mall when he didn't feel like driving; the only thing he had to do was adjust the saddle to his height. This ride was much different because of his weight, but he handled himself well. He was a very nice guy.

After a few years, as Suzy got older, I was left in the garage because some of her friends who started driving cars gave her rides to school and to other events with her classmates. I was very sad left behind gathering dust and my tires completely flat.

After Suzy finished high school, she left for a university in another city and didn't even say goodbye, considering the good times we had together for so many years. But I know that I will see her again when she comes to visit and I will learn about her progress in college, if I am still around.

One early summer morning I was taken out of the garage by Lisa and received a complete shampoo shower.

Later I was taken to the bike doctor, who gave me a general checkup and replaced my tires and brakes. This made me feel very young again, and enabled me to ride for many more years.

My new rider, Suzy's sister, has grown to be very tall and beautiful with a very nice personality. My school routine starts all over again, but I love my work schedule and won't have it any other way.