I'm with you, LZ. One day, I'd like to be responsible for the extinction of the last mosquito on earth...
My son learned to ride his bike without training wheels last week. One session in the park parking lot at the end of the street, and he was ready to go! Start to finish... several hours. When that boy sets his mind to something, he's amazing
So last night we rode bikes to the grocery store for ice cream, and then stopped at the kids' school on the way back. They've got a part of the playground painted for a program called Safety Town (where they learn kindergarteners about basic safety things), and there are four "houses" with "streets" running around them -- picture a box divided in four equal sections.
So we went there so we could have fun and I could also educate the kids about things like driving on the right (which is the way we do it here, most of the time). They had a blast, with chasing games (I'm the bad guy, and they have to catch me), races (first one to do a figure-8 and return to their "house" wins), and more. I finally had to pull them away because it was getting late, and the *real* mosquitoes were going to be coming out soon.
Well, that and my son's right pedal kept falling off
But that was secondary.
I should mention that between our neighborhood and the school is a walking path through a nature area. Lots of trees (and mosquitoes!), and the path goes down into a valley at a pretty good angle, and then comes back up.
Just the kind of thing you want to do if you're a kid who's been riding a bike for less than a week... take a twisting curving path at the fastest speed you can manage. And perhaps more. A lot more.
Side note: Yes, we all wear helmets. I don't want to be a good-looking corpse.
Remember that falling-off pedal thing? That happened the first time through the path for my son. Right down in the bottom of the valley, he stops. I hollered at him to go, then realized his bike was missing a minor piece [img]smile.gif[/img]
Remember those mosquitoes? They *loved* us as I tried to screw the pedal back on.
We made it back to the top with minimal bloodshed, and continued on.
Now, the impressive thing is that on the way back (with a fully tightened pedal), my son did not stop once along that entire path. Even though he was going faster than he ever had before under his own power, he kept on going... no freaking out, no worrying about trying not to crash, just smooth sailing like he's been doing this for years.
Sometimes I love that boy and the skills he's got...
Anyway, tonight they decided they wanted to go to the school again. *This* time, we were all smart and sprayed ourselves with bug spray. And he tooled off down the path again, full speed ahead. With no falling pedals; I tightened those earlier, and brought a pair of pliers, just in case.
Wow! This turned into a long post! Oh, well... just a proud dad sharing.
*Goes off to munch Mega M&Ms from the Endless Bowl...*