Reminiscing Childhood Joy!

Jaimee is hosting her first giveaway, and since I love free stuff want to support new bloggers (like myself), I decided to participate.

It's fun to reminisce about childhood joys. I had a great childhood. I was spoiled loved deeply by my family. My fondest memories of my childhood revolve around riding my bike. Without a doubt, bicycling is one activity that I participate in as an adult that always reminds me of my childhood, and being a child.

When I was a child, I loved to ride my bike. As soon as I was old enough, and big enough, my parents bought me a banana bike. It was pink, with a huge seat and fun handle bars. I rode that bike around the block for hours upon hours.

When I was a little older, my parents gave me a BMX bike. My brothers and I would take our bikes to the local dirt track. We'd ride the berms (slope or mound of dirt) with intensity. OKAY, so one time I wasn't so intense. I was pedaling as quickly as I could, moving my little seven year old legs, and I prepared to travel around one of the larger berms of the bike track. Before I knew it, I had lost my momentum and came crashing down, landing on my thigh and sliding down the berm. This crash resulted in the largest raspberry (slang for dirt rash/burn) I have ever sustained in my life. Talk about pain.

My brothers and I would spend hours in the 'gulch'. My girlfriends and I rode down long hills (one of which my friend crashed and went flying into the weeds) and biked along the roads (one time a friend ran into a parked trailer).

When I was 14, I was pedaling up a long hill on my dad's road bike. I was riding on the wrong side (left) of the road (cyclists should always ride with the traffic and follow all traffic laws) trying to make it up this hill. Out of nowhere, a car, (obviously driven by a teenager) with two teenagers riding on the hood, turned right in front of me. They thought it was a fun prank. I thought I almost died. Scary!

Now, as an adult, I enjoy mostly mountain biking. I've spent time on singletrack trails in Idaho and Utah. I've logged miles and hours with my husband in Logan, Vernal, Price, Moab, St. George, Rockville, Springdale, Virgin, Red Canyon and Zion National Park (well, on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, since biking on park trails is prohibited).

My all-time favorites are the J.E.M. Trail, Gooseberry Mesa and Rockville Bench.

















That's me on the far left. In this picture, my husband and a couple of his co-workers are just preparing to leave to bike the J.E.M. Trail, outside of Virgin, Utah. I think this picture was taken late January or early February. The riding starts early in southern Utah. The best!! Beautiful scenery and tons of fun.

My favorite part of riding a bike that reminds me of my childhood? Feeling the wind in my hair as I ride downhill. F.A.S.T. Love it!