Did you ride a bike as a kid?
I did! When I reminisce about my childhood memories on my bike, I instantly smile and feel powerfully unstoppable and courageous.
My first bike memories start at age four, proudly riding on a little yellow bike, likely wearing a dress and rocking a mullet, perhaps in pigtails. My biking memories also include a super cool miniature yellow boombox that could tune into AM/FM radio stations AND play cassette tapes. This treasured device had an adjustable purse-like handle to hang it on the front handle bars of my bike to play music as I rode. I had a Beach Boys cassette tape and I would turn it over and over, as I would sing and ride and ride.
At the time, we were living in the country in a trailer park in southwest Wisconsin. It was a very safe place for us to have the freedom to ride around the different loops of the blacktop roads in between the rows of trailer homes. When I was seven, we moved into town, to a house on a dead-end street. I was blessed to have yet another safe space to bike around in.
Given our town only had one stoplight at the time, I biked and explored every inch of my town. It was a different time back then. I biked to friends’ houses, my school, parks, the EZ-Shop convenience store, downtown…everywhere. I flew on the sidewalks with a feeling of freedom as I rode my bike. It was as if the bike wheels were my wings that allowed me to fly.
The wings in the wheels created a superhuman, elevated power that allowed me to feel courageous and confident to soar through my day. Whether I was by myself, taking a slow, long, reflective ride home; or, racing with friends as we created and escaped adventures, similar to scenes seen in the 1982 movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, my bike gave me an invigorating and energetic superhuman unstoppable power. If any of my memories evoke a smile and a similar reminiscent memory of you being unstoppable on a bike, at any age, then you know and believe in the power of wings within the wheels of a bike.
Rene and Chris Creed, a local Festus, MO couple smiles at the many moments, and many miles when their bikes have allowed them to fly. They believe in the power of wings within the wheels of a bike and have made it their mission to share this invigorating and unstoppable energy to our world, within our local community.
What they learned about our community years ago, though, is that it is a different world now than it was in the E.T. era. We are not living in the 80’s and 90’s, nor is Festus a rural Wisconsin town with one stop light. Due to several factors, not as many children feel the power, freedom, and courage of soaring on a bike with wings in the wheels.
Chris & Rene Creed with Sarah Darlington at Pedal’n PiWhen Rene and Chris really assessed our community’s relationship with bikes, they realized many children did not even know how to ride a bike. Rene and Chris became intentional to create a solution, which started their nonprofit organization, Living Life on 2 Wheels.
To “Live a Life on 2 Wheels” is not only the name of their nonprofit organization, it is also a vision for the future.
It is a vision for our community to embrace a lifestyle that believes in the power of bikes and the transformative benefits.
It is a vision to transform our community by creating a cultural shift to encourage our local people to live a healthy and unstoppable life, loving the superhuman power that riding a bike can have, at any age.
In order to shift this dream into a reality, they knew several aspects needed to change. People in our area needed:
– Awareness about how powerful bike-riding is.
– Education, and the ability to learn how to ride a bike.
– Logistics of having a place to buy high quality bikes and accessories.
– Location for a safe environment for children, families, and adults to bike.
Addressing all four of these core pillars is what drives the focus of Living Life on 2 Wheels.
Sarah Darlington was added to the team and is now a monumental force, driving this mission to soar and create a positive impact.
Here is an itty-bitty glimpse of what this team has done, and is doing, to intentionally create awareness, education, logistics, and location for this monumental vision:
Awareness/Education/Logistics:
They created Pedal’n Pi: a combination restaurant AND retail bike shop on our historic and charming Festus Main Street/Crystal City Bailey Road. Here, they offer incredibly high-quality food, drinks, and all things related to the biking lifestyle. It is within these walls that one can feel the energy and learn about the power of bikes. This is the most impressive place where individuals and families can congregate to learn, eat, buy, connect, and refuel on a physical, intellectual, and emotional level.
Awareness/Education:
They are active within our community to show up to, and hold their own, events to speak and educate. They have implemented the most impressive bike education program, working within our local schools to provide a FREE course for children to learn how to ride bikes. Living Life on 2 Wheels provides special learning-equipped bikes, pedal kits, helmets, curriculum, and more, to teach children how to ride a bike. Not only do the children walk away with newfound knowledge of mastering a physical and intellectual skill, they are emotionally proud, filled with power and confidence to know how to (safely) fly when riding on a bike.
Logistics/Location:
They are developing and cultivating the most impressive, expansive bike park/trails/paths in Jefferson County! This is shaping up to be a spacious, safe haven for people to soar on bikes, as well as explore the glory of nature, on foot.
As with any glorious, cultural shift within a community, Renee, Chris, and Sarah know how powerful people are to help support this impressive and impactful initiative. They also know that each person can help with their own natural talents, time, and energy. They know resources are abundant and available.
They believe with a collective collaboration, Jefferson County can transform into a healthy community that embraces a lifestyle that loves living life on two wheels (with wings).
This is another non-paid endorsement, shining the light on people and organizations who are courageously leading the path for others. Thank you to the Living Life on 2 Wheels team for creating new paths for all of us in Jefferson County, literally and figuratively.
You are invited to take an itty-bitty moment to recall how powerful it was to soar with the wings of the wheels on your bike as a child. If this was not part of your childhood story, we invite you to be curious on what that would feel like as an adult. Please learn more, reach out, support, and believe in this impactful initiative to be part of this invigorating and unstoppable energy.
Our mission is to cultivate a culture where cycling is the catalyst to strengthen the world.
(314) 974-6703
sarah@livinglifeon2wheels.com
Pizza shop offering bikes, wine & beer.
514 Bailey Rd., Crystal City, MO
(636) 638-1080
creed@pedalnpi.com
Learn more about another phenomenal local organization who invites adults to feel as if they are a cool kid in the E.T. era, biking around our fantastic Festus area, each and every week! They are an amazing and welcoming group.
Oh, and if Andy Held is reading this, I do still have my itty-bitty yellow boombox, along with several cassette tapes, including the Beach Boys. This does not connect to a microphone for karaoke; however, it will bring the positive vibes through classic tunes on Tuesday nights if you want to borrow it for the front of your handlebars?
Learn more:
If you dig a little, you can find the ACTUAL itty-bitty yellow boombox, handle and all, in this fun tribute:
