Never Give Up! A Story of Inspiration Many Years in the Making

My daughter was 4 years old when she broke her arm. She was riding her bicycle, made too sharp of a turn in a cul-du-sac, fell, and broke her arm. I had a similar experience, only I was a few years older and broke my leg instead of my arm. Perhaps the biggest difference between my daughter’s experience and mine was I didn’t stop riding my bike once my leg was healed. For all intents and purposes, she stopped riding once she broke her arm.

Elmo tricycle

That is, until recently. Yes, 7 years after breaking her arm, my daughter started riding her bicycle again. It had been so long she had pretty much forgotten how to ride so my husband and I paid for private lessons with REI, which I highly recommend. Within those two-hour-long lessons she was riding her bicycle, albeit a little shakily, but she was riding nonetheless.

We started going for family bike rides, starting out on the widest, flattest roads we could find near our house. My poor daughter’s calves were bruised from hitting them against the pedals. She would get spooked by a car coming or something else, hit the curb, and fall off her bike, but this time, she’d get back on. Sure, there was plenty of complaining, yelling, and frustration from her. Things weren’t all rosy, but I told her, yes, riding a bike is hard at first. It will just take time.

Picking strawberries with a broken arm

The main thing is, she stuck with it this time. I’m extremely proud of her that she didn’t just give up, saying it was too hard. Truth be told, riding a bicycle after an injury is hard, mentally, as I know firsthand. You get nervous when you pick up speed or when you’re going around a sharp turn. You have flashbacks of when you were injured. But after a while, you realize that you are safe and the chances of getting badly injured aren’t that great. Sure, you’re cautious, but every good cyclist should be cautious, honestly.

My daughter is also on a year-round swim team and runs 5k’s. I have no doubt that adding cycling to the mix will only enhance her swimming and running. Does she have plans to do a triathlon any time soon? No, but maybe in a few years. You never know, because just a few years ago, she would have told you she didn’t ride a bike, but now to look at her you’d think she’s been riding for years.

She’s an inspiration to me and even though I’m her mother and am certainly biased, I’m extremely proud of her for not giving up. I guess her stubborn nature has its benefits at times.

When I let her read this post while I was working on it, her response was that I was making too much of a big deal out of it. I don’t agree, though. I think the fact that she didn’t give up learning to ride her bicycle despite everything she went through is a message worth getting out. If there’s something you’ve been putting off or too afraid to do, just get out there and do it. It’s never too late!