From about 1st grade to maybe 3rd grade, I would ride my bike to school from the Jordell home to Oakview with Jeff Cole. Then again in 7th grade from Pathfinder to Pasteur. Whats wild is, its nearly 2 miles each way when we rode to Oakview, yet Pasteur was maybe 1/2 that and I was older.
The 80's sure were different times. No walkman, no headphones, no music. Just my mental ability to fantasize about how fast I could go, or what jumps could I find, or crossing over the creek how it felt like a future vision into what being in the army might be like - coarse terrain, water, dirt - the usual. I LOOKED FORWARD to riding my bike, and never dreaded it. There was something adventurous about this, and perhaps it also made me feel like "that cool older kid", Plus riding with my best friend every day, nothing better.
In elementary school, Jeff Cole and I got the best PowerLite BMX we could convince our parents to get us. I remember feeling like the coolest kid on the block finally rocking the cool BMX bike and no more huffy.
I would ride my bike to Jeff's house all the time and thats really simply how life worked. If I wanted to hangout, I'd ride my bike over and then make sure I planned ahead to ride my bike home before it was too dark.
I would always find a fun way to get home - maybe turn down this street and bomb down that one hill. And then next time, perhaps, see if I could find a faster way or something or someone to race.
I miss the easy days of casually riding your bike around everywhere without a care in the world.