Learning To Ride A Bike

Not one of us kids had a bicycle that I remember. I guess I was about eight and had never been exposed to a bike. This all changed one afternoon when we were visiting the Koranda family. Averil was my mom's best friend. They had several kids and we did too.
I always liked the name of the girl my age. Sandra Koranda. It has such a nice ring for such a nice girl.
But I digress. Someone had a bicycle and I was encouraged to try and ride it. I remember positioning the bicycle with the back tire on a slight hill. There was something next to this spot that was elevated enough for me to stand on with one foot while I straddled the bike. I would turn the peddles enough that the one on the far side of the bike was started on the down stroke. I would lean more and more away from my perch until the weight on the peddle and the slope of the little hill propelled me and the bike.
At first, I would crash instantly. Eventually I was able to go all the way across the back yard. This bike was much too big for me. I remember avoiding bottoming out on the crossbar. Stopping was the big issue. I could not reach the ground while the bike was vertical. I had to lean the bike all the way to one side. The problem was timing the lean to be in coincidence with stopping. Leaning over to the side at high speed was not good.
I was so proud to learn to ride a bike in just one day. The next problem was getting a bike of my own. We did not visit someone with a bike often, so I had to get one of my own.