Brakeless (High School Bike)
 High school  hometown streets
Master Registry #17 | Entrepreneurship, Plan Ahead, Get Back On
Setting: High school, riding a homemade ten-speed bike with no brakes
“When I was in high school I had a ten speed bike that I made from spare parts, which didn’t have any brakes of any kind, because I painted it black and then thought it looked cool with a single gear and plain handlebars. I rode it all over town, down the huge hill in the middle of main street and back up multiple times.
This taught me quickly the value of planning ahead, and reacting quickly with one of several hastily created plans  practice that did me well decades later as a TH-67 Kiowa Warrior helicopter aviator.
Once, I was riding Brakeless to school and Carlene was driving her car behind me (I took pride in riding faster than traffic whenever possible, which was most of the time) when a dog appeared about 7 blocks in front of me racing down the middle of the road straight toward me, barking full speed attack mode.
I had to go to school, and I didn’t have brakes, so I pumped the pedals and tried yelling and veering left and right several times, but the dog matched me each time, until we hit head-on.
I just remember flying through the air and sitting up to see the bike crash-land in front of me on the empty road. The dog was gone, and Carlene had gotten out of her car to laugh and laugh as she asked if I was okay. She said I hit that dog straight on and flipped over to land almost perfectly on my back.
I was fine, so I got back on the bike and, of course, was late to school. I never hit another dog though.”
Key Lesson: Plan ahead. React quickly with hastily created backup plans. Get back on the bike.
Connection to Platform: Building without a safety net. Planning ahead while moving fast. Getting back on after a collision.
Best Used For: Entrepreneurship (no brakes, full speed), iteration philosophy, learning by doing, military connection