Babesta Beat AW18

LAST WORD

MYFIRST BIKE

AN ODE!

F reedom . My first bike was not in the city. It was a little red 3-speed with training wheels and a bell. I would practice daily up and down my driveway until I got the courage to hit the road. Once I was two-wheeling, I didn’t stop. I’d bike to my friends’ houses and through the trails in the woods behind my house—once going so fast and out of control I went head first into a pine tree and emerged dotted with needle prints, and smelling of Christmas. Raising a kid in the city means a shorter leash than I ever had, but having a bike is a rite of passage. There are no training wheels anymore—balance bikes have eliminated the need. Kids learn how to ride by gaining speed and kicking up their feet on the pedal-less bikes, and trust me, they do the trick. With two girls who trained inside our apartment speeding after the cats, and later down the street and around the park, we saw them gain confidence at every turn. A bike seems like such a little thing, but is a key milestone toward finding one’s way, wind in the face, hair blowing, and (one day in the future) music cranked up to eleven.

Banwood First Go bike in navy , 41568, $195; Banwood helmet in dark green , 41571, $49; Banwood First Go bike in pink , 41567, $195.

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babesta beat autumn/winter 2018