Hello, Loud crowd! This is my eighth chapter of Lincoln's Memories. You can read the first seven parts here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. This details Lincoln learning to ride a bike.
It was an ordinary Saturday afternoon in the Loud house, and Lincoln, age five, was wandering around looking for something to do.
As he observed everybody, he realised that everyone in the house was currently learning something, except for him.
His mother, Rita, had been going to dancing school on Friday nights, his father, Lynn Sr., had been trying to learn Cantonese, and all eight of his sisters were learning something too--
Lori, the oldest at age eleven, was learning how to leave the house on her own, ten-year-old Leni was learning to tie a knot, nine-year-old Luna was learning how to wash Vanzilla, eight-year-old Luan was learning stand-up comedy, seven-year-old Lynn Jr. was learning to play tennis, two-year-old Lucy was learning to use the potty, and even the twins, Lana and Lola, who were only four months old, were learning to sit up.
So he went to his dad, who was making lunch, and said, "Hey, daddy, I've noticed that everyone seems to be learning something except me. Can I learn something too?".
"Sure," said Lynn Sr., "In fact, how would you like to learn to ride a bike? I think Luna's old bike is still in the basement."
"I'd love to!", said Lincoln.
"How about after lunch, we could go to the park and I could teach you to ride the bike?"
"Sounds good to me!", said Lincoln.
Soon enough, the whole Loud family was at Ketcham Park. Lynn Sr. had taken along a yellow bicycle that had originally belonged to Luna, and everyone else was crowded around to see Lincoln ride it for the first time.
"OK, so you get on now," said Lynn Sr.
Lincoln climbed on, faltered a bit, but eventually managed to balance.
"Good job, son," said Lynn Sr., doing a 'thumbs up', while Rita took a photo.
"Now, try to pedal," he said.
Lincoln tried, and he first started going backwards, but then when he tried the other way, he managed ride it properly.
"You're doing wheely well!", joked Luan.
And so Lincoln practiced whenever he had the opportunity. On Sunday, Liam came over for a playmate and he showed off his bike. "Hot diggity!", said Liam, who hadn't learnt to ride a bike yet, "I hope I'll be able to ride one someday soon. That way, we can race each other!". On Monday, he rode the bike to school and showed it off to his classmates. A few of them were impressed, some were just neutral. A few bragged that they'd been able to ride bikes for much longer than him, but Lincoln didn't mind-- he was too proud of his new skill to bother.
Two weeks passed and soon, Lincoln could pedal perfectly, so Lynn Sr. decided it was time to take his training wheels off.
At first, he was a bit nervous and would only ride if Lynn Sr. was holding onto his bike. "Daddy, are you still holding me?"
"Sure, son, why do you ask?" said Lynn Sr.
"I've seen several shows where a kid is learning to ride and tells their parent not to let go and they reply, 'I already did.'"
"Oh, I wouldn't scare you like that," said Lynn Sr., "I didn't do that with any of your sisters-- the first four would've been too scared and Junior specifically asked me to let go."
After a few minutes, Lincoln said, "You can let go now."
So Lincoln rode, rather awkwardly but happily, off, and ended up careening into Mr. Grouse's bushes.
"Loud, what are you doing in my bushes?!", exclaimed Mr. Grouse.
"Nothing!", replied Lincoln awkwardly.
And so over the next few days, Lincoln continued to practice. There were a few literal thrills and spills, but he got the hang of it rather quickly, and he's been able to ride a bike ever since.