MARK MY WORD: PEDAL POWER: GIRLS FIND JOY SPEEDING ON LIFE'S RACE TRACK

There's nothing like a set of wheels to make you feel wild and free.

Our daughters have been pedaling like crazy this week. Seven-year-old Becca has a new bicycle. Three-year-old Bailey has her own new set of wheels -- a tricycle.

They love to race along our dead-end street.

Becca has practically adopted the bike, which she has named "Rainbow." It's practically her pet.

She wouldn't part with it once she tried it out at a local store. She rode through the store aisles, almost mowing down other customers.

Becca prefers to eat meals while perched on her dark purple bike. She'd take it to bed with her if it weren't so big and she wasn't on the top bunk.

Her multi-hued bicycle with fat white tires comes fully equipped, with a hand brake and a front-end bag with plenty of room for a water bottle, deck of cards and other paraphernalia. There's even a platform over the rear wheel that can also be used to carry important belongings.

This bike still has training wheels. Becca isn't ready to part with training wheels just yet. She continues to question the wisdom of riding on two wheels.

Bailey's tricycle is all pink and purple and sparkly. Traveling on her tricycle, her feet pedaling furiously, a grinning Bailey circles the street at the foot of our driveway. Patrolling her world, she couldn't be happier.

Like her big sister's bike, Bailey's tricycle has a front basket for storing things.

Both the bike and tricycle have bells. The girls like to ring the bells, which ring like those on the old ice cream trucks that used to come around my St. Louis County neighborhood when I was a kid.

Bells are a big deal. To Becca and Bailey, they are every bit as important as car air conditioning is to their parents.

They love to ring the bells, generating sounds that match their enthusiasm.

There's a feeling of freedom out on the open road, never mind that the road ends not far from our driveway.

Still, it's a journey, another adventure on the road of life.

Racing down our sloped driveway, they have all the zeal of Olympic downhill racers.

Becca loves to race up and down the street. She regularly drags us outside to time her as she speeds down the street and back again.

As for Bailey, time isn't an issue. She isn't looking to break any speed records. She's happy just to have her own pedal-powered set of wheels.

Of course, when you're on a tricycle, speed is a relative term.

All that pedaling wore her out one evening. After navigating around the neighborhood a few times, she parked the tricycle some distance away in the middle of the street and elected to walk home.

As a dutiful dad, I carried the tricycle home.

It has a place of honor in our garage, along with Becca's new bike, a basketball, bubble supplies, a children's picnic table and a large play house.

All of this stuff explains why our two-car garage only holds one car. The other has a permanent place this summer on our driveway.

As for our children, there's no shifting gears. It's full speed ahead.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.