Have I missed out on something vital? Sometimes I wish I were one of the lucky kids who got an early start at cycling.

You might say that I missed out on a lot of things. I grew up in a rather isolated, semi-rural area, where bicycle rodeos and other such programs were unavailable. I never heard of  any such programs at school, either. In fact, they may not have existed back then.

I don\’t know how I would have felt about racing when I was an under-ten kid. It might have been fun; or, if I had never won, I might have been too discouraged to try any more races. I might even have wanted to quit riding entirely.

Bike handling skills are another matter. Every rider needs them, whether racing or pedaling to the local cafe´. Even at my age, informal classes on bicycle handling would be useful. Sometimes I feel rather directionless for having had so little of them. Reading about cycling how-to\’s is fine, but isn\’t the same as actually practicing those skills in a group of cyclists.

It\’s why riding in a group, such as for Tour de Cure, made me a bit nervous. Starting was especially scary, because I\’ve never entirely gotten over my tendency to swerve to some degree when starting.

I hope that some day I\’ll be able to make up for lost time.