Short day/tall bike

Sunday, April 24th: We had a very mellow day. Since we decided Saturday afternoon to cancel our bike camping trip, I didn’t have anything planned for the day and it was hard to motivate to go out just for the sake of going out given the rain. There were a few breaks in the rain and during one of them we headed three blocks to our school playground: the six-year old on his bike, the nine-year old on his scooter, and me walking my tall bike. Poor Pixie the dog didn’t have a vehicle of any sort.

Here’s one of our many races, all of which ended in arguments, punches, or tears (of course):

I must say “it’s not a race!” 200 times each day, but it seems to have no effect.

I’ve only ridden my tall bike once before, the day I got it over a year ago. I really need to take it out more often because it’s fun! Also, it’s just like riding a bike.

I also need to learn how to mount it like a pro. I climb on at a wall…and then ride back to that wall to get off. Photo courtesy of my six-year old and his adorable thumb:

I’ve watched videos of getting on and off tall bikes for inspiration. Here’s a really good one out of Portland (of course).

One more thing:

Later in the day I ran a quick errand with just my six-year old. He fancies himself quite the cyclist and wants to start racing when he’s 10 and be in le Tour de France when he’s 23. Plenty of time for him to come to terms with downshifting to a reasonable gear for climbing our steep hills rather than mashing up and tiring himself out before the day is done. I’m sure he’ll listen to his coach better than he listens to his know-it-all mother. Here he is demonstrating “aerodynamic” after defining it for me.