In 2008, I rode my Specialized mountain bike to school 5 days a week. Every cold, dewy morning I rode down the bike path with several other kids from my middle school. There was a group of boys that would ride fast without any fear. They would speed down hills, jump off curbs and even build wooden jumps on the dirt road that split off from the bike path. I would ride by this jump and look at it and think I could do that. From a distance I would guess it was about 2ft tall at most.

One day I built up the courage to ask them if I could go off their jump they had built. They happily obliged. I knew from watching some of the other kids do it that you couldn't go too slow. I pedaled my heart out racing towards this small jump. To my surprise as I got closer to the jump made of a wooden palette and other scrap wood it kept getting taller and taller. I couldn't stop now and embarrass myself in front of this group of reckless boys whose approval I desperately wanted. I couldn't stop anyway though because of how fast I was going, I had no choice but to power ahead. I finally hit the rickety wooden jump with my front tire and time slowed down. I leaned back and flew through the air. I started to feel myself rotating backwards, I could see my handlebars going up towards the sky. Big redwood trees surrounded me. Every second dragged out like an eternity.

Finally I landed, on my back, right in a dirt ditch, holding my bike above me in the air still. I landed with a loud thud and the wind blew right out of me, I was gasping for every breath. I could hear laughter from the other boys but they quickly rushed over, picked me up and dusted me off. They proceeded to tell me that no one had ever attempted a backflip before and that it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. From that day forward I was a part of their club. I may not have attempted that backflip on purpose but it led to me making some life long friends and many memories.