I could count the number of times I'd ever ridden a bike, in my life, on my fingers and toes. I hadn't touched one in years. My adult life was passing by without the ability to get myself where I needed to go. I'd spent months preparing myself for this moment. Right now, I needed to push off and get rolling, in between the other riders and skaters, all by myself-- and I didn't see how I could do it.
At that exact moment, some stranger on a bicycle came around the curve, looked right at me, and with his eyes locked on mine called out to me,
"You can do this!"
And as he passed,
"Feel the bike!"
And I focused on feeling the bike instead of feeling my fear, and let the bike take me forward.
