I want to ride my bicycle

Back home during the summer my family has spent a fair number of hours biking the mountain biking trails for the past few summers. I really enjoy this pastime. In a lot of ways I miss the workout that really doesn’t feel like a workout because it is too much fun.
When I arrived at site I observed the large number of women riding bicycles and was very excited to be able to ride a bike myself. The price of bikes here is fairly steep for a Peace Corps salary. I could get one if I didn’t spend practically any other money during a month and I plan to save up for one or purchase one off another volunteer when they leave in a year.
I found out a few weeks ago that my family has a few bikes that they use to get around on occasion and I’m constantly asked if I know how to ride a bicycle. I reply, of course I know how to ride a bike. Today I rode my first bike since arriving in the country. All of the women here ride with skirts, I’ve never ridden with one so I chose to go with my sweat pants (especially since I already had them on). I approached the bicycle and was informed there were no brakes (I didn’t actually know the word for brakes but my brother did a good job of acting it out and pointing).
I have never ridden a bicycle without the brakes and while mountain biking I rely on them to reduce the number of times I crash. The roads here aren’t exactly mountain biking trails but they are not paved sidewalks or roads either. There are huge potholes, cars, motorcycles, large puddles of water, deep ruts, holes, small hills, etc. They are dirt/mud roads that are never maintained.
Given all this I did manage to go a ways, turn around, and return home and get the satisfactory rating of “gowy” or “good”. My family approves my bike riding skills. That doesn’t mean I didn’t get a little freaked out when I reached to hit the brakes and they weren’t there. So, instead I crashed into a fence (this was before my jaunt while I was riding in our backyard).