Ella Falk, 8-18 Media writer

I started biking without training wheels around the age of five. My family would normally do normal biking on the sidewalk, but when quarantine happened, we were stuck inside our home. My friend’s mother recommended that we try mountain biking, but we didn’t have actual mountain bikes. My mother and I decided that we would go and try it with my other friends, it was their first time too. We tried the North Trails, there were a lot of rocks, and it did not seem like a beginner trail.

After a while of biking along with cliff-like areas and curved little hills, we arrived at a rock formation. I simply walked over it. Fast forward to when we were coming back down. We came to the rock formation, I decided I would be brave and try it. I ended up getting caught on the lower rock and going face-first over my handlebars, my face was somewhat bloody and numb for the rest of the ride. It took almost an hour to get back. In the end, we pretty much just laughed it off. Now we mountain bike all the time in the summer, and I have become better at it.

As a group, all of us have gotten better at mountain biking, so we have traveled out to a place called Copper Harbor, it’s near the tip of Michigan. Before we arrived there, it would be a while before we could check into our hotel, so the adults decided to do a bike ride in Swedetown. We arrived there and everybody got ready to ride. We were in the middle of riding and out of nowhere a few drops of rain hit me. We didn’t think much of it and continued on and after a few minutes, my friend Kaitlyn fell into a ditch like twice. We stopped in a clearing and the kids wanted to turn back but the adults thought we were just being babies. It then actually did start to downpour, so the adults did turn ­­back. I’m pretty sure it took longer to go back than it did getting there. We ended up getting to Copper Harbor but soaking wet.

Another story is near the end of the trip, and it involves my friend, Kaitlyn, again. We were on the way back from the tip of Michigan and she decided to go through every single giant puddle. She was soaking wet by the end of it.

In the end, I am looking forward to this summer and the memories that we are going to make. All of my biking experiences have been the best, especially with my friends there. Going mountain biking has brought all of us closer and happier. For me at first, it was really difficult, it certainly is still difficult now but I have gotten way better than the first time I ever tried it, which was two years ago. I recommend mountain biking, even though at first it may not seem like it but it’s actually really fun… not if you’re going uphill though.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ella Falk writes for 8-18 media. She is in 7th grade and loves mountain biking.