(Editor's note: This is a winning essay for the Grades 4-8 category of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California Youth Essay Contest. This year's theme is "choose your own adventure, by bike.")

My eyes open on an early Saturday morning, the room cold from the early morning darkness. My legs fill with the sudden urge to be exhausted by the pounding pulse of muscle to metal. My thoughts race as I plan the only way to remedy this urge, a road ride. I think of my route, the gear that I am going to take, and what the ride will be like. Then my thoughts hit a huge snag, who is going to ride with me?

Editor's note: This is a winning essay for the Grades 4-8 category of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California Youth Essay Contest. This year's theme is "choose your own adventure, by bike.")

If I could ride anywhere in the world it would be France, in the Tour de France. I would bring my mom to prepare my healthful vegan meals and my dad and Annie, our dog, to cheer me on. They would travel with the race entourage in our 4X4 Baja Tan Sportsmobile camper van.

In the Tour, I would glide by the sunflowers while in the middle of the peloton. Then I would make my move on the last climb of the day, Hautacam, a 14 kilometer climb in the Pyrenees with an average 6.8% gradient. At the ski station, where the slope increased, I would attack. As I climbed higher and higher into the sky, the shredded spoonful cereal with soy milk would really kick in. At the 3k banner where the gradient increased to 10%, I would extend my lead to over three minutes on the chase group of three rival riders. The crowd filling the switchbacks would part; the devil with pitchfork in hand and red cape billowing behind would be running next to me. With the sun beating down on me, I would hear my manager yelling encouragement in my ear bud. Then as I stand on the pedals I imagine Phil Liggett saying to the television viewers back in the United States, “he is dancing like Lance”!

(Editor's note: This is a winning essay for the Grades 4-8 category of the 2008 Amegn Tour of California Youth Essay Contest. This year's theme is "choose your own adventure, by bike.")

One day I had a feeling I wanted to go to Puerto Rico. I wanted to go to Puerto Rico because my brother told me that Puerto Rico was a beautiful island. So I thought about it, and I told my brother about having an adventure there and taking over our bikes. I brought my brother because he knows about a lot of places in Puerto Rico. So we planned our adventure and got permission from our parents.

We started to go to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. We saw the pretty, sparkling ocean with some goldfish and other fish jumping high out of the ocean on the way. We started to ride our bikes around the island. It was true that Puerto Rico looked beautiful. I couldn’t believe it. It was interesting that Puerto Rico is one of the biggest islands between Florida and South America. We continued on our adventure with our bikes. I followed my brother because I didn’t know the places like he did. We passed an Art Museum and we also stopped and rested on a magnificent fountain. Again we started to go on our bikes and passed a tropical rain forest and had lunch there. It was the best. On the way we saw snakes, mongooses, and also saw beautiful flowers. The sound of the tropical rain forest had lots of birds singing. The day passed and we saw the sunset go down and soon it was night. My brother and I saw some bats pass by us. My brother and I went camping. It was the best time of my life.