Biking: Time to try the Sidewalks

This is going to take more work than we were anticipating.  We did one last try the night before the big class bike tour through town, in hopes that it would click enough that he could ride safely with his class.

It was looking like it might happen, but then he crashed.  He hit one of those phone utility things poking out of the ground, and went down hard.  It was a miracle he didn't break his arm considering how it was tangled in the bike (Zach had to straighten out the handlebars to line it back up again).  He got a nasty scrape around his eyebrow/eye socket.

On the plus side, I do think I am going to like the new doctor.  They got us in within a few minutes of the crash (a few blocks away) to check him out, saving us a trip to the ER, even though we hadn't turned in the paperwork yet.  We were pretty rattled, but after a bit, Zane seemed like he was doing better than his parents.

So, that evening we emailed his teacher to tell him about the crash.  Morning came and we weren't sure if he was going to ride a small segment where they were on the street (skipping the part where they are confined to the sidewalk) or just sit it out.  We brought his bike (even loaned out an extra helmet) to the set up point to see what the plan was.  There we were informed he was walking with a group of other kids who weren't riding, so we loaded the bike, drove a few blocks, and met up with his group as they were arriving at their intersection.  

giving high 5's to passing bikers

The kids Zane was with helped man the intersection where they stop traffic, allowing the entire line of 100 bikers to stick together as a group.  

tag

He even joined in a game of tag while we were waiting for the tour to make their way back through the intersection on the way back. I was concerned that he would be upset because I know he really wanted to ride, but was relieved to see that he handled the change of plans smoothly. He really enjoyed watching the tour, which made me happy.  He really wasn't ready to ride like that quite yet.  So close though.

Bigger

We bought a refurbished bike from a neighbor and went to test drive it.  Zane was upset with the situation at first.  He tried the new bike in our driveway, but the uneven surface mixed with more obstacles (like the street) and a bike that balanced very differently and was much heavier, was very discouraging for him.  We packed the bikes up to go back to the smooth, large, mostly empty parking lot for him to get used to the bike.  The entire way there he loudly voiced his complaints and wanted his old bike back.  He wanted us to take off the pedals again, but we couldn't get them off (screw started to strip), so he had to be content with Dad pushing him for a bit while he found his balance.

After a few minutes, once he was resigned to the fact we weren't going to let him back on his old bike again until he tried this one, he calmed down and got to work.  It took a bit of coasting and Dad pushing him for him to start pedaling again, and soon after, he was up and going.  And this time, with a bigger bike, he could go considerably faster.  He was THRILLED.  Mom and Dad....not so much.  Luckily the two spills he took were not when he was at full speed, or we would have spent the evening in the hospital.

Bigger Fears. : /

Dad helping as he tries to find his balance on the much heavier, much bigger, differently balanced bike.

Bigger Bike! : )

Checking out the braking/pedal system.  This has the adult style brakes rather than the pedal brakes.

Bigger Wait Time for my Big Girl

She got tired of riding and took a break to mess with the tools.

Bigger Distance

I sat in the middle of the parking lot and watched as they both rode all the way to the edges.

Bigger Speed!  :O

He was LOVING the speed.   Way too much.

Bigger Smiles! :D

Bigger Bruise.  :(

His cheek hit a fencepost. OUCH!  He was making stimmy noises and enjoying hearing them echo against the buildings and wasn't paying attention to where he was going.  The cheek looked pretty horrible the next day.

So, the day was a success.  Next:  Sidewalks.  

Do they make full body bubble wrap?

Oh, and if anybody knows of some super cheap/free adult bikes, we would be interested.  He now officially goes faster than we can run.  Well, especially me, but he could almost do that on the little bike, so that isn't saying much. lol.

And, as a side note, I am thinking it is such a bad idea to have "fall picture day" at school four days after the class bike tour of town.  I am hoping we don't end up with a "memorable" photo.

Bike Riding a SUCCESS! (with video)

We found an empty parking lot in town.  The one we were using is next to the football stadium, and on a Friday night in Small Town America, that means it is jam packed with cars at the high school football game. So, after driving around, we find a nice, wide open, smooth parking lot.  Just a little wet from the scattered showers, but not bad.

Putting the pedals back on

Zora zooming

And there he goes!...

...and goes...

..and goes!

And here is the live action, after a few minutes practice. 

We had to hurry home soon after this.  Between the sun going down and the incoming storm, bike riding conditions were deteriorating at a fast clip.  It was awesome though.  He was so excited and proud of himself.  On the way home he asked if we could call Oma and Opa to tell them.  That is the second awesome point to the day.  He also pointed out that we could go get the new, bigger bike, now that he knows how to ride, so I guess we will get on that as soon as we can.

Progress on Wheels

We are all diligently working helping the kiddos learn to ride bikes.  When the typical way wasn't working (you know, push them along and let go, like our parents did), we consulted the internet.  After sorting through a plethora of suggestions, we settled on a combination that seems to be working.

1. Take off the pedals (so they don't hit their legs)
2. Drop a saltine cracker every 10 feet or so (then farther and farther apart, in varying patterns)
3. Have the biker scoot along aiming for the crackers.
4. Add knee pads before they fall and end up with 2 bloody knees (yeah, forgot that step the first try)

"Cracker Smashing" was a success.  It got him to stop thinking so hard about falling, and start thinking about aiming for the cracker while the back of his brain worked on learning to balance the bike.  A part of me is disturbed by wasting crackers, but the local birds seemed pretty pleased with the idea.

After balancing and scooting to smash the crackers, he was more interested in letting dad push him and gliding. 

gliding along

After a few days of doing this, he is able to glide for more than a few seconds, and now he can glide down a mildly sloping sidewalk, use his feet to slow himself and turn the bike around the corner as the sidewalk changes directions.  He even went over a curb and didn't lose his balance.  We have a lot of hope that next time, after a few minutes of gliding, we will have success when we put the pedals back on.  He is certainly working hard at it.  Once he gets pedaling down, we are picking up the "new" (used, refurbished) bike from our neighbor so he has a better bike, instead of one as small as Zora's.

Determination

Zora is also enjoying tooling around the parking lot and sidewalks in the bike she got from her Uncle Steve & Aunt Nora.  As soon as Zane is riding on his own, we will work with her on ditching the training wheels too.  Right now it looks like our biggest challenge for her is to get her to quit leaning to the right.  The right training wheel is noticeably dirtier and bending.  Right leaning is baaaaad.  She is starting to get some speed while riding, so hopefully it will help her make the transition.