Potentially seen as a late bloomer, Mathilda proved that just about anyone can learn to ride a bicycle. Even while she took two weeks to master the art of steering while balancing, she never gave up. Each day, her friend, Ishak, pushed her across the field; they were always working hard to keep the bike headed in a straight direction, even if Mathilda wasn’t straight herself. After many weeks of epic crashes, one day, Ishak let go of the carrier and Mathilda kept going on her own! On the last day of her town’s Learn to Ride session, this new rider topped the competition at the closing ceremony races. Mathilda came in first in her category, beating out four other girls who had been riding for weeks longer. Ishak was there to cheer her on, and no one was prouder than him.