My Personal Tour de France: The Freedom to Ride

As a kid I remember watching the Tour de France on the television show ABC's Wide World of Sports, before any of us new the name Lance Armstrong. It was an event that captured the imagination of a 10 year old, and was the impetus for the incessant pleading for a 10 speed bicycle. I received that bicycle the following Christmas. It was a tan Centurion, a small racing seat and black handlebar tape. I remember barely reaching the toe clip pedals. For those of you who know my Dad, realize it was bought for me to "grow into". I couldn't wait for the Christmas holiday to end, so I could ride my new bike to school and show it off. For the next 6 months I rode my bike to school everyday. On 86th Avenue, between the stop light at Oakhurst road and the Circle 'K' was my own personal "L'alpe d'huez" to conquer. Looking back it was only a small hill, maybe a couple hundred yards long and rising maybe 30 to 40 feet, but for a 10 year old with an imagination it was the King of all mountains. I struggled up it every day, testing my gear shifting abilities. That tan bike was more than just transportation to and from school, it was freedom on two wheels. That bike opened up the world beyond 86th and 125th, it took me to Dino's Pizza, the arcade and across the Park Boulevard bridge to Redington Beach. That summer, the one between elementry and middle school, my friends and I planned our own tour. Myself, Doug S., Rick B., Jason S. and Chris B. set out to leave the neighborhood behind. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, put Kool-Aid in our water bottles and packed some Snicker candy bars for our epic ride across town. We had to climb that hill on 86th Avenue then pass the High School where we flew down "Cemetery" hill. We then ventured where none of us had gone before without our parents in a car...Tyrone Boulevards pass the Mall. We sat on the curb and ate our sandwiches and Snicker's bars. From there we headed to old Saint Petersburg and across the Central Avenue Bridge into Treasure Island. Ahh the beach, we pulled our weary bodies off the bikes for a quick dip in the Gulf of Mexico, then it was back on our bikes down Gulf Boulevard. It was there with a strong head wind, the group began to struggle. Rick, Doug and myself had 10 speed bikes with drop bars and gears, Jason and Chris were on small one speed BMX bikes. Chris was really struggling, as he was the "big" kid of the group, you know the stocky kid who plays catcher. It was here that we employed our learnings from watching the Tour de France. Rick was always the strongest of all of us, he took the lead breaking the wind for the rest of us. We put Chris in the middle to make sure we didn't leave him behind. So with Rick pulling, Chris safely tucked away in the middle and me and Doug following up the rear we made our way back to the neighborhood. It was with that trip our small world had expanded, and with that ten speed bike I had found a new freedom.