Highway to the Danger Zone
The breeze grazes my face under my pink and white Barbie helmet that matches my pink and teal Pocahontas bike. My feet pedal forward along the concrete path behind Nico on his Power Ranger bike and not far ahead of us, Pop, helmet-less with a thin white sports bike with slim wheels meant for speed and agility.
To my left I see the sand and smell the ocean. On the right, cars drive by us on the Pacific Coast Highway.
It’s exciting to not have training wheels. I have a little pouch on the front of my handlebars that holds my things for the adventure. Inside it are some colorful butterfly hair clips, a pocket-sized notebook, purple Gelly Roll pen, and a toy fairy from McDonald’s that flies up into the air when you pull a string to wind it. Ahead of us, there are brown shingled windmills and I hope that we can stop and try to get inside. Pop tells us stories about trapped princesses and evil witches. I wonder as it gets closer who lives in that old windmill.
Nico is fast even if he’s a year younger than me. While he’s an athlete, I’m more in my head taking in surroundings and imagining what mermaids are swimming in the waters we bike past.
“Come on Dani!” Pop shouts from the front. They are too fast for me. I push the pedals backwards to stop as I see my dad and brother wait ahead of me at a crosswalk. We are going towards the windmills!
The windmills remind me of Coit Tower, tall and kind of scary. Once, when we drove up the hill to it, Pop exclaimed as he opened the sunroof of his red BMW.
“Watch out! Rapunzel is up there and the witch is around here somewhere and might grab you out from the sunroof!” My brother and I looked around and closed our eyes and covered our heads with our forearms.
On the highway, we cross the busy symphony of cars and I’m glad I made it. Nico and Pop ride ahead of me and enter the park where the windmill is. I have a water bottle strapped to the middle of my bike. I’m glad we are taking a break.
