Life With Ferris: Buy The Boy A Bike

Ralston Wells grew up on Lookout Mountain, the son of the late Doris and Ralston Wells and brother of Carter Kay and Mimi Patrick. When he was a boy, he owned a red three-speed Schwinn, which was front and center in all of his adventures. And he had many in the days before cell phones and video games and social media. That red Schwinn meant freedom for Ralston, and those two wheels made him feel like king of the mountain.

Every day brought a new adventure, one that was waiting for him as long as it was on Lookout Mountain (although sometimes it wasn’t).

He met his friends first thing every day in the summer and on weekends, parking at the woods to explore, build a fort or dam a creek, where hours were spent uncovering murk-covered stones and seizing unsuspecting crawfish. Over adventures awaited at the Commons where more friends were ready for capture the flag and other games.

Ralston lived near Rock City, actually where Grandview is now, and attended Lookout Mountain School. His parents rarely had to worry with carpooling because he chose his bike whenever he could, wheeling up the sidewalk in front of the school just in time to convene with his friends before the bell rang.

“That bike was my freedom. I could go from my house on Patten Road next to Rock City on the Georgia side (of Lookout Mountain) all the way to the Glascock’s or Garnett Williams’ house (now Stonedge) and Point Park on the Tennessee side,” Ralston said, reminiscing. He and his friends raced each other on bikes and he rode his bike to the campout spot, usually where the original Tom Thumb tee is.

Ralston rode his bike to the golf course to meet his dad to play a few holes, and all over Fairyland, which included some very steep hills. “[I used to come] screaming down Hardy Road as fast as I could pedal, then skid to a stop at the bottom next to Jad Davis’s house. There was no area on the mountain that my two wheels did not roll to,” Ralston said, adding that his red Schwinn meant total freedom on the weekends and in the summer, when his parents ordered him to be home at 6 p.m. for dinner but made no demands on him until then.

“That bike was the only way I got around the mountain,” he said.

So when Ralston read James Cake’s column in a recent issue of the “Lookout Mountain Mirror” titled “Buy the Boy a Bike,” it struck a nerve. “I read James’ article and it brought back memories of how important a bike is to a kid. It’s total freedom,” he said.

Actually, James’ piece did more than strike a nerve. It inspired Ralston to write a song.

Co-owner of Radio SoBro, the singer-songwriter streaming station out of Nashville, Ralston is a songwriter himself.

“I’m always looking for stories that can inspire country songs, and James’ story made me start thinking how a boy and bike could be a positive country music song,” Ralston said.

The day after he read the article, he pitched his idea to two other songwriters at their scheduled meeting.

"[Songwriters] Justin Love and Ryan Neely were not sure of the idea at first, but after we started writing it, the song took on a life of its own, and Justin and Ryan [recollected[ their own young lives with bikes and helped so much with the story. Both Justin and Ryan are incredible songwriters and they, at least to me, brought the song idea to life,” Ralston said.

You can listen at RadioSoBro.com or download the free Radio SoBro app on your phone.

“BUY THE BOY A BIKE”

Ryan Neely / Justin Love / Ralston Wells

https://soundcloud.com/user-941842125/buy-the-boy-a-bike-mp3

Boys these days are miss out playin’ it safe

Staying on the couch

There’s an open road outside

Underneath that big blue sky

Two pedals two tires can teach some lessons

If you ask me, here’s my suggestion

Get that kid a Schwinn

Be the best money you ever spent

Chorus

And when he falls, he’ll dust himself off and get back up again

He’ll conquer hills on those spoked wheels, feelin’ like a man

Some days’ll be like flying, others riding against the wind

If you want him to learn ‘bout life

Buy that boy a bike

Every once in a while he’ll get a flat

Damn some days just go like that

Might meet a girl who breaks his heart

He’ll know by then that’s just the growing up part

With those handle bars of freedom

He’ll find a whole new meaning

* * *

Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel and is available in paperback and on Kindle. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.