Emma's new bike

Per some recent thread on rec.bicycles.misc regarding pre-teens and a lack
of bikes for them, Dane recently sold, at supposedly cost of parts (not the
cost of labor, though) a nice older Peugot road bike to me for my 12 year
old to ride. He fixed 'er up with some new parts and spiffy new handlebar
tape.

We came over to pick it up the other day. Emma's been riding an old kids'
Zed mountain bike for years, which she's really out-grown, so she's gotten
far too used to having her feet squarely on the ground for take-off. Having
to launch and then sit on the seat, along with getting used to drop bar hand
positions and brakes was a little overwhelming at first. Dane lives on a
fairly quiet street, but every time she'd take off from his driveway, a car
would somehow appear and freak her out. I think she went into the bushes at
least once.

Well, we took it home, and I told her she'd need to practice on our street
for a while. Unlike around by Dane's house on a hill, our house is on a
long, only slightly sloped, low traffic street. It's really good to learn
how to ride a bike on, or practice riding. You can go a couple of houses to
the end of the street, launch, and get a gentle, slight downhill slope to
coast and practice balancing. When you get to the end (in a cul-de-sac), you
get a gentle uphill to practice your pedalling to get home again.

Our street, in part because it is sort of flat, and also because there's
lots of families in the neighborhood, has a roving pack of kids on it all
summer long. I was coming home from work on the bike, and there's a clump of
kids, maybe ages 9 - 14 hanging out, including Emma on her new bike.

"Hey look!" she yells. "I've got it down now!" and she takes off after me on
the Peugot. She races me to the driveway, but I already had the momentum,
and I beat her hands down. But I bet for the rest of the summer, when it
comes to racing, she's going to have a lot of wins. The neighborhood
regularly sees kids' bike races down the street (that gentle downslope I
mentioned), and even with the knobby tires on her mountain bike, Emma was a
champ. With a road bike and slicks, it's going to be no contest.

--
Warm Regards,


Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

In article ,
"Claire Petersky" writes:

Our street, in part because it is sort of flat, and also because there's
lots of families in the neighborhood, has a roving pack of kids on it all
summer long.

I think that's a sign of a healthily vibrant community.

I was coming home from work on the bike, and there's a clump of
kids, maybe ages 9 - 14 hanging out, including Emma on her new bike.

Yeah, it always has been difficult for a kid to
get away with anything without Mom (or somebody's
Mom who is communicatively connected with all the
other neighbourhood Moms) showing up :-)

But I guess that's a sign of a healthily vibrant
community too.

"Hey look!" she yells. "I've got it down now!" and she takes off after me on
the Peugot.

Alrighta! Successes, triumphs, and challenges met & bested.
Such a big part of the allure of riding.

She races me to the driveway, but I already had the momentum,
and I beat her hands down. But I bet for the rest of the summer, when it
comes to racing, she's going to have a lot of wins. The neighborhood
regularly sees kids' bike races down the street (that gentle downslope I
mentioned), and even with the knobby tires on her mountain bike, Emma was a
champ. With a road bike and slicks, it's going to be no contest.

More poignantly, I think these experiences will probably endear
her to riding. I note a lot of riders have returned to riding
after having enjoyed so many riding experiences as a kid, and
then forsaking it all to join the ranks of the Motorized.

But then they recover from that dormant state, and the
recollections of the joys of riding come flooding in,
and they again seek and rediscover those joys.

It gets in the blood, or the heart, or the brain,
or the soul, or whatever body part it gets into.

Even adults who didn't learn to ride when they
were kids, eventually recollect the joyous freedom
of their peers who did, and finally get around to
seeking and obtaining that same experience, and
I'm rootin' for those late bloomers, too.

Late bloomers are lovely, 'cuz they extend & prolong
the beauty.

It's all good.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On Aug 24, 9:27 am, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:
Per some recent thread on rec.bicycles.misc regarding pre-teens and a lack
of bikes for them, Dane recently sold, at supposedly cost of parts (not the
cost of labor, though) a nice older Peugot road bike to me for my 12 year
old to ride. He fixed 'er up with some new parts and spiffy new handlebar
tape.

We came over to pick it up the other day. Emma's been riding an old kids'
Zed mountain bike for years, which she's really out-grown, so she's gotten
far too used to having her feet squarely on the ground for take-off. Having
to launch and then sit on the seat, along with getting used to drop bar hand
positions and brakes was a little overwhelming at first. Dane lives on a
fairly quiet street, but every time she'd take off from his driveway, a car
would somehow appear and freak her out. I think she went into the bushes at
least once.

Well, we took it home, and I told her she'd need to practice on our street
for a while. Unlike around by Dane's house on a hill, our house is on a
long, only slightly sloped, low traffic street. It's really good to learn
how to ride a bike on, or practice riding. You can go a couple of houses to
the end of the street, launch, and get a gentle, slight downhill slope to
coast and practice balancing. When you get to the end (in a cul-de-sac), you
get a gentle uphill to practice your pedalling to get home again.

Our street, in part because it is sort of flat, and also because there's
lots of families in the neighborhood, has a roving pack of kids on it all
summer long. I was coming home from work on the bike, and there's a clump of
kids, maybe ages 9 - 14 hanging out, including Emma on her new bike.

"Hey look!" she yells. "I've got it down now!" and she takes off after me on
the Peugot. She races me to the driveway, but I already had the momentum,
and I beat her hands down. But I bet for the rest of the summer, when it
comes to racing, she's going to have a lot of wins. The neighborhood
regularly sees kids' bike races down the street (that gentle downslope I
mentioned), and even with the knobby tires on her mountain bike, Emma was a
champ. With a road bike and slicks, it's going to be no contest.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Peterskyhttp://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at:http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Nice story, Claire, thanks for sharing it.

Smokey

Claire Petersky wrote:
Per some recent thread on rec.bicycles.misc regarding pre-teens and a lack
of bikes for them, Dane recently sold, at supposedly cost of parts (not the
cost of labor, though) a nice older Peugot road bike to me for my 12 year
old to ride. He fixed 'er up with some new parts and spiffy new handlebar
tape.

Well, as close to the cost of parts as I could with a (literally) back
of the envelope calculation. It would have been a lot more, but I
picked up the bike from a garage sale for $2. The largest expense was
swapping the front wheel for an aluminum 27" inch for better stopping,
new chain, and new handlebar tape. The barcons, rear wheel and
cassette, and almost everything else came out of my spares / used boxes.

If I charged you labor cost at my normal per hour it would have
sextupled the cost of the bike. ;-)

We came over to pick it up the other day. Emma's been riding an old kids'
Zed mountain bike for years, which she's really out-grown, so she's gotten
far too used to having her feet squarely on the ground for take-off. Having
to launch and then sit on the seat, along with getting used to drop bar hand
positions and brakes was a little overwhelming at first. Dane lives on a
fairly quiet street, but every time she'd take off from his driveway, a car
would somehow appear and freak her out. I think she went into the bushes at
least once.

It was fairly amazing. Clear street, clear street, clear street, Emma
starts pedaling, along comes a car. Lather, rinse, repeat.

--
Dane Buson -
"The private enterprise system indicates that some people
have higher incomes than others." -Gerry Brown