Monday, October 17, 2011

2 Wheels > 4

Getting kids on bicycles is a lot of fun. They get to explore the world under their own power, simple tasks turn into little adventures, they get stronger and more confident... As anyone who reads this blog regularly knows, my kids spend a lot of time on their bicycles, especially my youngest, Declan.

Silly Beans

Declan is quite the monkey.

Lean Into It

Not long ago, I posted about Declan's first real foray into the bike lane on his own bicycle.

14th Street

Even with all of the benefits that I see that come from my kids riding everyday, sometimes I am surprised by something new I hadn't thought of. The first thing on two wheels that ever changed my life was my motorcycle. I haven't been on my Honda in 11 years, mostly because the kids were too young to ride on it. Now that all of the kids are older, and everyone is either self sufficient in the transportation arena or is big enough to ride whatever I show up on, I have been able to start riding my motorcycle again.

Declan asked me if he could ride with me over the weekend. He had never been on a motorcycle before, so I had to give him a lesson in how to be a good passenger- don't wiggle, don't stand on the pegs, don't grab my shoulders, don't panic when the bike leans into a turn... "you mean like when I am on the back of the xtracycle?". Exactly!

Blurry Firsts

So there he is! I was worried about putting him back there thinking he would be frightened or do something silly. I thought I would have to start him out in a parking lot or something like that, until he got used to it. As it turns out, we have been teaching him how to ride a motorcycle for a long time already. He was a perfect passenger, and now we have a way to get to his doctor's appointments without taking a 90 minute long (one way) bicycle ride or having to spend 30 minutes finding a parking space when we get there.

One more step toward car freedom, all because I put my kids on bicycles. Pretty cool.

5 comments:

  1. Another (bicycle) option you might want to look into is a folding bike - you'll be able to ride when you need to, but if you have a long way to go (e.g. to the Doctor) you can just put it in your trunk. My errands take me so much less time since I started using one.

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  2. Honda Nighthawk?

    My dog is the same - took a while to learn how to lean but is good to go now.

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  3. Chris- folding bikes are GREAT! I have wanted one for years, but I have not been able to justify the cost.

    Jim- indeed. A 1992 Nighthawk. I have had it in storage for a great many years, so it looks almost new. It would look even better with a dog on it : )

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