Tour de Woodbury

This weekend was the 4th of July. We were predominantly concerned with the return of Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers, the start of the Tour (http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html), and Tiger playing in his own tournament. But we did have some time for sports of our own.

Perhaps it was the opening stage of the Tour that did it. Jack said he was ready to learn to ride his Big Bike. He wanted to be like Lance Armstrong. Grandma and Grandpa bought Jack a Tonka Mighty Tough Bike last year, and he had yet to feel big enough to ride it. He has preferred his Big Wheel with the motorcycle sounds and songs, and his Radio Flyer Tricycle. But his knees have now started bumping the handlebars of the tricycle. To make matters worse, the 2 big boys down the block get their big bikes out almost every night and go for a ride. It was time to move up.

Saturday we practiced and practiced. Jack’s main problem was that he would peddle 2 rotations forward, and then one back…which put on the brakes. He worked hard to avoid doing this, and by Saturday afternoon, he rode over to the park & back. He wore his stretchy winter gloves as his bicycle gloves. He was riding Stage 1 in the Tour de Woodbury. But he had one question:

“How come you guys aren’t riding your bikes, too?” Mike explained that he still needed a push every now and then, but if he kept practicing, we could all ride our bikes up to get ice cream very soon.

That evening, Jack kept sneaking down to the garage to check on his bike. When he woke up Sunday he wanted to ride first thing. But we had one problem to solve: The gloves. So we got dressed and drove up to our local bike shop to find him some proper riding gloves: A pair of high-tech women’s cycling gloves with no fingers and gel packs in the palms. He was thrilled.

That afternoon, after more practice, we were invited to a neighbor’s BBQ. Jack rode his bike over so he could show everyone the bike, the helmet, and the new gloves. Mike mentioned that our neighbors’ toddler would be a good candidate to receive Jack’s tricycle. Without hesitation, Jack dragged me back to our garage to get the tricycle, which he rode over and presented to his new little friend. The baby loved it. Jack now had a fan.

But Jack wasn’t into the BBQ, and besides, he was still waiting for the ride up to get ice cream. We knew it was probably still too far for him to ride, and the entire trip was a slight incline. So I walked behind the bike, giving only the occasional push, and Mike went back for the car (the Sag Wagon). Jack bent down over his handlebars. He pedaled and pedaled. People in their cars slowed down to watch and smile as the little boy rode up the street.

The Sag Wagon was parked at the top of the hill, and when Jack made it up there, he loaded the bike in the back, took off his gloves & helmet, and strutted into the ice cream store, leaving us behind. He was quite proud of himself. He doesn’t actually like ice cream, and so he didn’t eat his, but that was never the point. Vive le Tour.