Janie B. Cheaney: The bicycle years

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 22nd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, how a summer rite of passage became a relic.

With kids out of school, many parents fill their kids’ days with camps, youth sports, and other structured activities. But WORLD Commentator Janie B. Cheaney says they may be missing something even more formative.

JANIE B. CHEANEY: Do you remember learning to ride a bike? Chances are, there was a parent holding on to the handlebars beside you, walking as you got the feel of the pedals under your feet, trotting as you pushed a little faster, and finally letting go as you sailed off into wobbly mobility.

When I finally got up the nerve to ride our old single speed, around age seven, my parents weren’t available. The neighborhood kids coached me as I mounted up and learned to balance. Then they all jumped on their own bikes and raced to the street, assuming I would follow. And I did, with new-found confidence. There was just one thing they failed to mention: how to stop.

Not being especially observant of bicycle basics, I assumed you just hopped off. I was not prepared for how fast one could go on a downward slope—hopping off was not an option. So I screamed all the way to the end of the street, where I crashed into a limestone embankment. I just missed being hit by an oncoming vehicle, and still remember the shocked faces of the elderly couple behind the windshield.

Not the first time the Lord saved me from doom. I recovered, got back on, and somewhere in my journey around the block discovered the coaster brake. From that point on, I owned the neighborhood. The bicycle years from six to twelve were classic childhood, when my friends and I were old enough to venture out of our own backyards and young enough to always come home. In between, lots of free time to expand our territory and skin our knees.

But you may not notice much preadolescent bike-riding these days. The National Sporting Goods Association reports that the number of pedal pushers age 7 to 17 has reduced by almost half since the 1990s. Part of the reason is that there aren’t as many 7 to 17-year-olds. Another reason, in the opinion of freelance journalist Erin Sagen, is that speed limits, zoning laws, and larger vehicles have favored auto traffic over bike traffic. Writing in The Atlantic, Sagen urges parents to go the extra mile in finding their children a safe place to ride.

But unless it’s a place they can get to by themselves, recreational biking becomes just another planned activity in the larger program of 21st century childhood. At National Review, Jack Butler notes the same lack of bike riders on the street and connects it to the deeper issue of grownups not valuing kids enough to share spaces with them. Or let them out of their sight. Or take the time to teach by example while allowing them to learn by experience.

It’s not just their health, growth, and independence at stake, it’s the age-old model of childhood, with the freedom to do childish things, even while gradually learning to put them away. There’s plenty of activities that curate learning experiences for young people…but there’s no program for growing up; kids just have to do it: to mount up, and take off, and crash, and get up again.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

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