Have you ever rode
a bike before? Think of the rhythmic clack of the chain, the sound of your
tires lightly treading, the wind blowing on your face, the trees and the houses
that you go by. Well, that's what I picture when I think of riding my bike.
When I was
learning how to ride my bike without training wheels my dad and I started on
our driveway because it has a slight slant, so I didn't have to pedal to go
down it. It was very hard to learn how to balance on a bike for the first time.
When you think about walking you think of balance from a front to back
perspective of when to move your feet when leaning forwards, but when you are
on a bike it is very easy to fall off from the sides while it is nearly
impossible to fall off the front or back of a bike. When I was first learning
how to ride my bike I noticed the slight clicking of the chain over the gears.
The clicking was oddly calming and rhythmic, like it was trying to soothe my
jittery nerves while balancing.
Once I could
balance on my bike the next thing was staying balanced while breaking. My dad
stated, “You need to know how to stop before gaining speed.” I mainly practiced
that while going down my driveway. Again, the clicking of the chain was there
with its soothing constant, never-changing, rhythm. When I was practicing my
braking, the main reason I was falling off was because I never knew the timing
and speed of when to put my foot down to fully come to a stop. Always at the
bottom of the driveway the chain clicking stopped, as if waiting patiently for
another round.
Once I was able to
use the brakes to stop it was time to learn how to pedal and turn. Learning how
to pedal while staying balanced was tricky. It took me a while to learn how to
do it. Once I could balance while pedaling I could officially say I could ride
my bike, but it was a rocky road before any of that. After looking back, I
think the hardest part was learning how to shift my weight without falling off.
At the beginning of my pedaling practice, I was pedaling so slow that the chain
wasn't catching on the gear, thus my pedaling was doing nothing. At least the
clicking of the chain was still there with its rhythmic ways, but all good
things must have an end. When pedaling, assuming I was pedaling fast enough for
the chain to catch on the gears, the rythmic clicking was not there; instead,
there was just the slight sound of tires lightly treading on roads.
After a while of
practice I could finally say, “I can ride my bike.” It took a while to build endurance, but that
was a smaller challenge that I also overcame. Once you learn a new skill, you
can always build and improve it.
-Stephen
I liked all the detail that you put in to describe how you felt the first time riding your bike. Me and probably most other people can relate.
ReplyDeleteThis story really taught me the importance of perseverance. In this quote from the text; "After a while of practice I could finally say, “I can ride my bike.” It took a while to build endurance, but that was a smaller challenge that I also overcame." You showed how you persevered and didn't give up on learning how to ride your bike. I really liked the vocabulary you were using such as, rhythmic and perspective. Overall it all came together and made a great story.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the conclusion,very short but it explained the message very well. "Once you learn a new skill, you can always build and improve it," I think this is very relatable, not just for biking but for almost anything. Almost every little thing you do has room for improvement.
ReplyDelete"the rythmic clicking was not there; instead, there was just the slight sound of tires lightly treading on roads." I really like how you compared the clicking of chains (or lack thereof) to your experience an abilities as a biker. If you practice enough, you'll eventually succeed
ReplyDelete"You need to learn how to stop before you gain speed." I like how that piece of advice can apply to anything in your life. I also liked how you used sensory language to describe everything that you'd see when riding a bike.
ReplyDeleteThe central idea of this is that achieving something takes time and patience. This is especially related to biking, as learning how to control and "feel" it takes practice and effort. This also goes to skiing, ice skating, skateboarding, and a lot more. What all of these have in common is that they all require some sort of coordination. You need to be able to control parts of them to be able to move swiftly. "After looking back, I think the hardest part was learning how to shift my weight without falling off." This shows that you were learning how to control your center of gravity to maintain the balance on your bike. Something I liked about it was that you organized your paragraphs to show your progression towards learning how to ride a bike.
ReplyDeleteI loved how relatable your writing is. It reminded me strongly of my first time riding my bike. Your use of strong vocabulary made it even more nostalgic, for example "the rhythmic clack of the chain, the sound of your tires lightly treading, the wind blowing on your face, the trees and the houses that you go by." I stayed interested throughout the story due to its layers. The way you described on step of learning at a time kept it from being repetitive. I liked everything overall about your story.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how brought life lessons and messages and found a way to fit them in the story. For example,"You need to know how to stop before gaining speed," and,"Once you learn a new skill, you can always build and improve it," were both very good life lessons and messages. You did a very well job at engaging and relating the reader to what's happening.
ReplyDeleteThis story honestly brought back memories of when I was first learning how to ride a bike without training wheels."the rhythmic clack of the chain, the sound of your tires lightly treading, the wind blowing on your face, the trees and the houses that you go by." I loved how you were a able to refer back to the song sound rhythmic chain smack that all bike have (relatable!)
ReplyDeletei really liked they way you described what you see while driving a bike. And it also feel good when you say something that i also experience.I also learned the diffrent types of stages you went through to learn how to ride a by cycle.The clicking was oddly calming and rhythmic, like it was trying to soothe my jittery nerves while balancing.i think this mean that we can alsocalm our self and focus while hearing music or rythms
ReplyDeleteI like how you helped people relate to the story by saying "Once you learn a new skill, you can always build and improve it." When you said this I thought of all the times I learned a new skill. I liked how you used descriptive words in your writing.
ReplyDeleteI learned how to ride my bike by going down a huge Hill in the park, and the things I had to be with was to keep pedaling. I like how you explained the ways you coped with your problems and you did that by listening to ¨the clinking was oddly calming and rythmic like it was trying to soothe my jittery nerves while balencing¨
ReplyDeleteI really like how you made the topic simple. When you said "Think of the rhythmic clack of the chain", I never really noticed it until you said it! Good job!
ReplyDeleteYour introduction is something we can all relate to. Utilizing common childhood experiences, such as riding a bike, to hook readers in is an excellent strategy. I also like how you went on to describe your experience with riding a bike, "Think of the rhythmic clack of the chain, the sound of your tires lightly treading, the wind blowing on your face, the trees and the houses that you go by." I ride my bike quite often and your detailed description of the sensory you intake while riding a bike perfectly relates to my personal experience. Also, your conclusion, "Once you learn a new skill, you can always build and improve it." Amazing! This is something we can all apply to our lives. Again, using common experiences to engage readers is a wonderful skill that you used perfectly. Great job.
ReplyDeletei really like how you said "i can ride my bike" i remember learning how to ride a bike myself and my sister would push me then i needed to pedal. i can really relate to this story good job Stephen
ReplyDeleteI liked how this story reflects on other people because everyone didn't just get on a bike and ride it first try, it took them many tries. "When I was learning how to ride my bike without training wheels my dad and I started on our driveway." I can relate to this when I first started to ride my bike, my dad was teaching me how to ride my bike on the driveway. Overall your story was great!
ReplyDeleteOne of the central ideas of the story is safety comes first. The first time when I rode a bike without training wheels was successful because I was really confident after years with training wheels. I also liked how it was easy to imagine you practicing without training wheels in the first body paragraph. I enjoyed reading this piece.
ReplyDelete- Brandon
DeleteI like how relatable this is to our lives, it makes me think back to when I was learning to ride my bike. I think the way you compare the sounds was great " the rythmic clicking was not there; instead, there was just the slight sound of tires lightly treading on roads".
ReplyDeletei think the central idea is to believe in yourself. I also liked the way you showed you were trying to calm down " The clicking was oddly calming and rhythmic, like it was trying to soothe my jittery nerves while balancing",and how it relaxed you
ReplyDeleteStephen I like the sensory language in this quote "Think of the rhythmic clack of the chain." This quote brings back memories of my first experience of trying out a bicycle.
ReplyDeleteI really like ho well you described the sound of your bike,"The clicking was oddly calming and rhythmic, like it was trying to soothe my jittery nerves while balancing." I think the main idea is that you can learn how to do something if you keep practicing and keep trying again.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very good paragraph, and i think that with the rhythm of the bike, you have learnt to do this by being a bit more relaxed
ReplyDeleteAm I not right?
Delete