Sunday, February 8, 2015

Learning To Ride

Since it was such an unusually nice day today my wife thought it was time that we taught our soon to be eight year old son how to ride a bicycle sans training wheels. He had won a one hundred dollar gift card in a anti-smoking contest last year so at Christmas we bought him a brand new bike and helmet. Off we drove to the park closest to the house where I unloaded the bike and imparted upon him my considerable bike-related wisdom.

 
The problem was that he didn't listen to my instructions because he was very afraid of falling and when he doesn't listen I tend to get frustrated. I managed to calm down enough to let him know that even when I let go for a second or two that I was still going to hold on again and not let him fall. He was slightly better than when we began but is still far away from going solo. He's having difficulty understanding how to keep himself from leaning over.
 
The plan is that if the weather is nice again next weekend we'll go over to Riverside Park where I'll be able to rent a bicycle and let him see the old man in action and perhaps by observing he'll learn something. If I had the money I'd go out and buy a bike for me right now so that we could ride all the time. Of course I haven't ridden one in about twenty years so it's possible that when I write next week it'll be about my new bruises and abrasions. It is possible that it all could come back to me nicely but I'm not counting on it.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

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