Case of the Missing Bike

As kids with a lot of pent up energy, this was the moment we’d been waiting for. The road trip was finally over; AT LAST Dad had taken our bikes down. We were camping, a Green family tradition. As soon as our camper was parked we would harass Dad for the bikes - - we were not about to stick around to help set up camp.

This particular weekend we were camping in the Allegheny mountains of PA. It was a gorgeous late afternoon on Friday when we arrived. We snatched our biked and were off. Dad called out to Josh, youngest sibling (at the time), “don’t follow those kids up the mountain.” You see, his bike didn’t have brakes; it was a 12” bike that had training wheels. Josh having no fear, completely disregarded this warning.

Jeremy & I were off to the races with some of our cousins. We wanted to make it up the hill as fast as possible b/c then we could barrel down the hill at an unsafe speed.

Josh had been following us, but none of us even knew. Not that it would occur to us to check on him. Poor Josh is following us up the mountain but with his tiny bike, he could not keep up. After a bit – he gave up – and decided to turn around to go back to camp.

As soon as he turned the bike around he knew he was in real trouble. With no brakes, the pedals were rotating uncontrollably. He put his legs straight out to the sides. Then realizing this was a lost cause, he abandoned this strategy and just dove off the bike as it continued sailing down the mountain.

Josh is a little battered and bruised but mostly traumatized b/c he had to go back to camp w/ no bike. As a kid this is truly detrimental.

Josh sobs his story and Dad doesn’t believe him – “What do you mean, you LOST your bike?” Dad realizes the implications here – with no bike, Josh will be bugging him and my Mom all weekend.

When the ‘older’ kids get back to camp, they are updated on this issue.

We establish and send out a search & rescue crew for the bike. We look for like an hour, then reconvene at camp. What a mystery? The bike could not have vanished…. We feel confident no one would steal this ‘no-brake’ ‘hand-me-down’ bike, but…….

The rescue mission is sent out for Round 2. This time, another friendly camper is chatting with Dad. He mentions he saw a run-away bike earlier and points Dad in the right direction.

The bike is found!! It had fallen into a sizable ditch and had sunk to the botton of all of the brush and leaves in the ditch. We pulled it out – good as new.

Thankfully, by the time the camp fire was roaring and the s’mores were cooking, the bike was saved, and therefore, so was the weekend. Josh did not attempt to ride up the mountain again………at least not this weekend.