Ed and I  were both sophomores in high school.  I tend to be very suspect of writers who attribute ancient Latin and Greek roots and meanings to the common vernacular that is separated by two thousand plus years, but "sophomore" seems to be unchanged in meaning and intention since the time of Socrates, from the Greek sophos, wise and moros, foolish. That is we were both sixteen and fossil fuel legal.  This was the age where nearly all post World War II middle class youth gave up their two wheel pedal bikes for the much "hotter" four-wheel carbon burners.  Certainly in the early 1960s, you weren't going to get any  dates on a bicycle.  We both got our driver's licenses when we turned sixteen.  We drove a lot more and rode a lot less, but our friendship was started on the cusp where our bicycles were more than basic transportation but means to adventure and exploring the world around us.