By Bri Ribalta
August 17, 2020 at 06:06 PM PST
Bicycle riding in the park has been a long tradition in the Hook family for decades. It all changed in the fall of 2009, when Marti Hook fell off his bicycle during a normal family outing.
I didn’t know what to do to diffuse the situation. This had never happened before, and the last thing that I wanted to do was scare the children – said Marta Hook, Marti’s ex-wife. Life was never the same after that incident. We made a silent agreement to never discuss what happened at the park ever again, but our relationship with Marti was forever severed.
He fell on other incidents, but I pretended I didn’t see it. The Hook’s children look at their mother with disbelief. With tears in her eyes Marta turns to her son and daughter. In the back yard, he would sometimes practice while you and your sister were out of the house — she says, the words creating obvious knots in her throat. But he just couldn’t stay balanced on that bicycle anymore.
Two years after the incident, Marta filed for divorce citing irreconcilable diferences. It was the fall in the park, she said without hesitation. If the divorce papers had a ‘write-in’ section that’s what it would say. Mart, their eleven year old son puts his hands around his mother. We love our dad, but we can’t live under the same roof as a grown man who falls off a bicycle. Mara, the Hook’s youngest daughter just looks at the floor and bites her nails. I don’t want to talk about it, she says as she leaves the room.
Now, Marta is an advocate for bicycle riders. She has created a non profit organization called Don’t Fall Off Bikes, to warn and support other bicycle riders. If you’re an adult thinking of learning to ride a bicycle she has a few tips to help you in your journey.
- Hold on to the handlebars – regardless of what happens, those handlebars is an extension of you – explains Marta. If you let yourself go, you lose yourself. I can’t find you if you are lost. The same applies to bicycles. If you lose control and ride into the woods, I can’t find you.
- Put your foot on the pedals – The pedals are like the engine in your body – your heart. If you want to go somewhere you need a strong engine to get you there. You and only you can get the engine to work.
- Smile, Smile, Smile – nothing wrong can happen when you smile, says Marta as she flashes a smile and walks into a wall.


