Last night I was supposed to take a bamboo bike out for a ride. Since I have been resting the old legs it was my intention to take it out for a slow one. I mentioned to my 9 year-old son what I was doing and asked him if he would like to join me on his mountain bike. His reply was a very excited nod of the head.
Thing Two prepares for his first road ride
We headed over to Sunshine Cycle Shop where Phil Webb was going to leave the bike for me to pick up. As we pulled into the parking lot, my phone rang. It was Phil from inside the shop letting me know that the bike had a broken shifter and the part would have to be ordered. There would be no ride on the bamboo bike that night.
My son and I went on in to take a look at the bike. I also looked to see if there might be an extra small jersey that he could wear for this first adventure on the road. We continued to do some window shopping.
“Where’s the bike?” he asked. At first I wasn’t sure what he was asking, then I remembered we had come in the shop earlier this summer and had him climb onto a 49 inch Specialized Allez. He was looking for it. Turns out it had been removed from the floor, but was still in the shop. His interest in the bike made me smile. It won’t be long and he’ll be tall enough for it.
We headed home sans bamboo bike, but that didn’t keep us from riding. I felt kind of bad as we rolled away from the drive. Here I was on a full sized road bike and he was spinning along after me on a 24 inch kid’s mountain bike. Thankfully, it was a solid 21 speed Specialized.
There was nothing really eventful about the ride. It was just that the entire ride was an event. We had ridden together some on trails and had gone down some roads for a mile or so. However, never had we started out together on one of my training routes. This was a definite first.
We followed the route through neighborhood streets down to Cleveland Park. As we went, I was helping him understand the proper gearing for the hilly terrain while instructing him of how to be alert to traffic. We rode on two rather busy roads, but he followed my instructions well and I could see on his face that he wanted to learn.
In Cleveland Park we rode one full lap. As we were completing it, I looked over at him and asked if he wanted to do another lap. He got a big smile on his face, but shook his head to say no. “I’m a little tired,” he replied. So, we continued on toward home talking as we went.
Coming out of the park there is a short section with a 12% grade at the top. I was going ahead and encouraging him. My fear was that he would get into the climb and then have to stop. I was talking to encourage him and about to slow to allow him to come up to me when he came flying around my right side. He didn’t need the pep talk!
Then it was time for a nice downhill. My son can be a little fearful at times and is very calculating about the risks he takes. I wasn’t sure how he would respond to getting up some speed. I went ahead and turned into our next road on the route.
Looking around I saw him coming down the hill. His face didn’t really give me any indication of his response. However, he took the hill just fine and made the turn in perfect control. As he came up to me, a smile broke out on his face and he said, “That was fun!” Inside, I breathed a sigh of relief.
As we rode on, I told him we had been riding for nearly one hour and had covered 8 miles. “An hour?” he said, “Wow, it didn’t seem like an hour!” It didn’t. For me it seemed way too short. We were almost home.
Climbing the last uphill portion before home he finally had to stop and take a break. We started off again with me coming up behind him and pushing him along as he continued to pedal. One final coast down and we were back where we started.
What a feeling. For me it was just a glimpse at the reason I started to ride the bike in the first place. By the time my children will be in their teens, I will be in my mid to late forties. I want to be in shape to be able to enjoy those years with them. If we can ride together, that will be icing on the cake.
To see the look of enjoyment and success on my son’s face gives me hope that someday soon he will put his leg over an actual road bike and we’ll do that route again… and again… and then another route. As I told him, “Someday, you’ll say, ‘Let’s do another lap, dad.’ Then you’ll say, ‘Let’s go do Paris Mountain, dad.’” He didn’t say anything when I mentioned the mountain. He just looked up at me with a huge grin on his face.
Father and son after the ride
