Randon Finkelstein
Ms. Murphy
English 4 H
15 January 2013
Suddenly, I Became Me I was nine years old and on a special Christmas morning I awoke the sound of a hot-rod red Honda 45cc motocross dirt bike being started up in my driveway. My Dad and I had been searching motorcycle stores for the past month to find the right one for me. Knowing this did not deter my nine-year-old self from shouting with joy when I laid eyes on that machine. The same weekend I went to a motorcycle beginner course with my Dad and his Yamaha he had bought for himself, adding another motorcycle to the street bike he already had, so he could ride with me. The third time I hopped on the bike I rode straight into a thick wire anchoring a telephone pole and had the wind knocked out of me. I simply screamed, “That was awesome!” and hopped right on it again. Going to the track with my Dad started to become a regular thing and within a couple weeks I was kicking up dirt and sliding around corning like a pro. I was now skilled enough to graduate from the kid’s track and move up to the big boy course. The first time I got on the big boy track there was a steep valley about five feet deep that you would go down and up to the rest of the track. Me, being a little daredevil, was going down the valley and decided to twist on the throttle with all my might, sending me flying ten or fifteen feet in the air! There was no greater amount of fun a kid could have, until my bike started turning sideways on me as I was coming down, landing on my leg when I hit the ground. The sudden change in feeling from being in complete bliss to extreme pain was like hitting a brick wall. My best friend who I grew up with rushed over after seeing what happened pulled a bike that weigh as much if not more than him off me and tried to comfort me while tears were gushing down my face. When my dad got there not a couple seconds later he brought me back to the car and checked to see if I broke anything, which thankfully I had not. That event scarred me, I never road with the same ambition, spirit, or carelessness again. The rest of my riding days were few and far apart. I stayed on the big boy track but I never went fast, did any jumps, or any fast
