THINGS YOU NEVER FORGET

They say you never forget how to ride a bike.  I think it must be true.

We have two bikes here in Florida that I serviced this afternoon by adding air to the tires.  Everything else seemed in order.  Soon after, I decided to go to the post office here at the resort to check today's mail.  (There was none of any interest.)  Even though I have not been on a bicycle since last March, I stepped on the left pedal, threw my leg over the seat like a 20-year-old and started peddling down the street.  It was only after I had gone a block or so that I realized: no wobble, no hesitation, no thought to what I was doing.  You just don't forget how to ride a bike.

I could think of only one other sport in which this is true.  I suspect that once you learn to swim, you never forget.  Once you learn to trust the buoyancy of the water to hold you up and learn to kick you legs while pulling yourself through the water with cupped hands, you probably don't forget it.  You may lose some of your speed or power if you don't swim regularly, but you don't forget how to swim.  You may have to stop and tread water (another skill I doubt you forget) if you try to swim very far, shoulder impingement or some other age-related infirmary may prevent you from swimming well or far, but you will remember how to swim.

In most individual sports, golf comes to mind, you may not entirely forget how to do it, but you surely lose some of your strength, your rhythm and your skill.  You can no doubt still hit the ball, but maybe not as far or with the accuracy you once had.  Of course, that can be said of biking: you can still ride a bike, but maybe not with the speed or skill you had as a youngster.

Still, I will stick with my original assertion: you never forget how to ride a bike.