We have a balancer!

Little sister made a breakthrough in balance riding on her Strider bike tonight. In the last few weeks, she's gone from walking her bike along, to running her bike along, and recently started lifting both legs simultaneously for just a half second as little self-tests of her courage. But during our evening ride today, she discovered she could lift both legs and coast. It seems she's over the crux and just about has this balance bike thing figured out. I predict more speed and coasting in the immediate future.

Spring break

Little sister is happy about her first real ride on the Big Dummy.

As per usual, we didn't end up going anywhere for spring break this year. We had some tentative plans for a quick trip, but the girls of the household each ended up getting sick, so we decided to take it easy and stick close to home. The week started out similarly to many past spring breaks of my experience: with a snow storm. Though the storm was heavy at times, the snow it left was typical wet spring snow, and melted quickly. This has made for copious mud, which kept us off dirt trails for the most part.

This snow fort had a well-constructed foundation, but was no match for the onslaught of the sun. 

For a time, it was chilly enough to warrant the boots, but the snow didn't stick around long.

We stopped in to see some people at Denver Bike Sharing, and she sampled some of the newest members of the Denver B-cycle fleet. Those with a tri-geared fetish may be happy to know that all B-cycle bikes are 3-speeds.

At the History Colorado Center museum, she took me for a drive in a Model T Ford. It was the best type of car: non-emitting, simulated, immobile, and with spoked wheels.

Experiencing what it might be like to be a clothing-challenged super fan, also at the museum.

We did a little hiking at Daniels Park to enjoy the view.

Today, the weather couldn't have been more perfect. After a nice meal, we all saddled up and took a ride through the neighborhood and local park. It was lil' sis's first real ride on the back of the Big Dummy, and she seemed to enjoy the experience quite a bit. She spent much of the time giggling and babbling, while intermittently drinking from her new water bottle and pointing to scenery along the way. I have a few modifications in mind to revamp my homebuilt Xtracycle-based kid seat, which are of high priority in order to meet the needs of upcoming rides. I'm starting to piece together an overnight bike camping trip to include all of us; kids, dog, and parents.

Getting the hang of drinking on the move.

Oma was along for the ride.

Back seat passengers on my Surly Big Dummy.

Scout, my faithful riding buddy.

By midway through the ride, she had mastered the use of the bottle cage.

We took a riding break for some waterfowl spectating and walking practice. 

Proud of her newly installed BaileyWorks handlebar bag. It's pink, of course. 

Suburban off-road trail riding

Sporting a CamelBak and a smile.

Last week was the first week of school, but reading and math weren't the only things worthy of study. She has had been awash with confidence riding her mountain bike, so we took an afternoon to get out on the trails.

One of my biggest barriers to mountain biking in the past several years has been the time involvement, both real and perceived. Probably my biggest hangup is the time investment to load a car with bikes and gear then to drive to a trailhead. However, since serving as sensei to a budding mountain biking grasshopper, I've become attuned to seeking out off-road opportunities in urbana situ, reducing time requirements for preparation.

Cruising some open singletrack.

We fortuitously live in an area with a quite a few off-road trails of various types. Most are not particularly technical or demanding, but can be a lot of fun regardless. With a little imagination, it's possible to link together several informally developed segments of double and singletrack via more officially sanctioned sections of trail surfaced with crusher fines.

Although there are not tremendous opportunities for long downhill runs, we have been working on some skills that will eventually be useful for descending. Big Sis soaks up new challenges, and has recently had fun mastering the skill of getting behind her seat to shift weight balance over the rear wheel. This is a position to allow for safe and controlled descent down slopes. She's a good climber and seems to enjoy topping hills, so developing the skills to go back down is naturally in the cards.

Showing the people how it's done.

We had a great time poking around the trails, and will continue to do so. The experiences of seeking out places to develop mountain biking skills is reminiscent of the way I rode a bike as a kid; just exploring the outdoors and having fun. There's no competition other than the occasional friendly sprint, and we stop to look at flowers or to get snacks whenever we feel like it. It's all been a valuable reminder that in biking, as well as life in general, the journey is the destination.

Look out! It's a mountain bike with gears!

It's hard to convince her to keep the bike throttled back a bit.

Because Big Sis has been rapidly progressing in her bike skills and because she's grown tall enough, I put together a mountain bike with 20-inch wheels for her. I found a 2007 Kona Makena on Craigslist a while ago. The bike had a couple of positives going for it; it's a well-built, good quality frame. It also has a surprisingly nice Suntour suspension fork with about 50mm travel. The Kona is also an acceptable, not frilly, color. As much as I don't want to admit it, the color of a bike does come into play as far as the successful acceptance of its intended rider. So the present compromise is sort of a Joan-Jett-tough-girl version of pink rather than some nauseating Disney-pastel-princess pink. 

2007 Kona Makena, rebuilt and upgraded.

When I got it, the bike also had a few negatives, with some worn out and/or sub-par parts and was in dire need of maintenance. So, of course, I stripped it to the frame and rebuilt it from the bearings outward. I replaced the boat anchor bar and stem with aluminum versions, the battered Tektro brakes with Avid levers and v-brakes, and the saddle and seat post with nicer versions. I also installed a 7-speed freewheel in place of the worn 6-speed, and gear changes are accomplished via a new SRAM chain through a vintage Deore XTII M-737 rear derailleur controlled by a Suntour XC Comp 7-speed thumbshifter. As a nod to the preferences of my little mountain biker, I found a pair of hot pink Oury grips. She chose the pink bottle cage, and is overjoyed to finally be able to carry her own water. 

She seems more appropriately sized to this bike than to her old bike, as valiantly as it served.

One thing that I couldn't do anything about was the solid cast steel 140mm cranks with riveted 40 tooth chainring. It's a crime to equip a kid's bike with any single part that is so egregiously heavy when a better aluminum version can't be much more expensive. These cranks alone are about 3+ pounds. Ordinarily I'm not overly concerned with bike weight. After all, I ride a Big Dummy, a Pugsley and Denver B-cycles regularly. However, looking for ways to reduce the weight ratio of a 25-ish pound bike to a 48-pound rider, thoughtful changes can make for a nimbler, better experience when learning to ride off-road. A 34-ish tooth chainring would also make for much better off-road gearing for the 7-speed rear end. As soon as I can find a better setup, I'll swap the cranks and chainring out. 

With Chloe, riding through the park.

The little Kona is still equipped with the Duro brand imitation Panaracer Smoke 20x2.0 tires that it came with, but I'm looking for something with a little rounder profile. I've found the selection of real mountain bike tires, as opposed to BMX tires, in the 20-inch size somewhat limited. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open.

Rocketing on the new bike down the local dirt track.

So far, she's done well learning to use hand brakes only, as her previous bikes have had coaster brakes. She's also figured out the shifting, and seems to really appreciate the lowest gear to climb on the dirt trail, and has remarked on how the suspension fork smoothes out some of the bumps. The larger diameter tires seem to have increased her speed, in a similar manner that moving from 26 to 29-inch tires can do for an adult. I can only imagine how fast she's going to be once she's gotten the bike completely sorted out.

A celebratory rock climb in lieu of fireworks.

Dirt trail + biker girl = fun

The past couple of nights we've been heading out after dinner for a little Daddy/Daughter dirt bike riding. The results include learning some useful skills, hanging the occasional daring maneuver and raking in copious amounts of fun. Tonight I remembered to bring the video camera, so below are my latest attempts at sharing some movie clips.

First up is a clip in which I follow the leader through her favorite circuit route. It should be noted that I was holding the camera in one hand and my bar and front brake in the other, and going along at a fairly good pace. This contributes to making the video a little bumpy. I'll have to build a camera mount one of these days.

Next is the same circuit, seen as a spectator. The track is about perfect for a budding dirt rider, and she makes it look so easy. Much of the time she spends chattering to herself or singing songs as she rockets down the trail. A perennial favorite is her rendition of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll," complete with vocalized guitar solos.

The final selection for the day is a hill climb shot. This captured the first time that she conquered this particular section, a climb of about 2 meters. If that doesn't sound like a lot, consider that the hill is short and steep, the single gear is not well suited for climbing and the bike weighs about 65% as much as the rider. I'd say the celebration is well justified.

Here's to many more evenings spent in a similar manner.

First bike-iversary

The rain let up enough for a little ride. The ladybug boots are there for the puddles.

Today was a big day. It was the last day of school and our girl's first bike-iversary, a term we've decided appropriate for marking the occasion. It was one year ago today that she first rode a pedal bike. In the year that has passed, she's become an ever more accomplished rider. This may be the summer of learning about mountain biking.

Recently I had a question from a reader regarding how we liked the Electra and how it has worked out for her. This prompted me to spend some time reflecting on not only the bike, but the learning to ride process. I thought it deserving of a bit more prominence than to reside in the comments section of an old post, so the following is a brief synopsis of our experience.

We used the balance method of learning to ride, and never used training wheels. It was quick, easy and fun for both parent and kid. We started out with a Scuut balance bike followed by a 12.5 inch wheeled pedal bike, followed by the larger 16 inch wheeled Electra.

For those unfamiliar with the balance method, the gist is to learn to balance a bike first, then introduce pedaling once balancing is mastered. Any bike can work, but smallish bikes are easiest. A cheap second hand 12.5" bike is a good starting point, depending on the kid's size. Just take the pedals off and lower the seat so that the rider can put both feet flat on the ground. The kid pushes herself along with her feet, quickly learning to lift them to coast, and thus learning to balance. The whole process can be mastered in as little as a few hours of practice, but easy, never forced practice spread out over several days or weeks is probably more typical. After balancing feels comfortable, then you can introduce pedals.

She rode her balance bike on and off for a couple of months. I slapped together a balance bike for myself out of an old frame I had, so that we could ride bikes together without her being too inquisitive about the differences between our bikes. One day, on her own volition she asked to try her pedal bike of the same size, and immediately took to it. Within an hour, she was riding reasonably well, starting, stopping and turning with increasing confidence.

It should be noted that during this whole process and for at least a year prior to this experience, she rode on the back of the Big Dummy many, many miles. It's possible that riding on the Dummy helped her internalize balancing skills and assisted her body and mind to absorb what it feels like to be moving on two wheels. If this hypothesis is correct, then a child riding on the bike of a parent before learning to ride on her own could contribute to the learning process. At some point I may investigate this in more detail. At any rate, we continue to enjoy riding together on the Big Dummy as well as on separate bikes, and hopefully she picks up practical skills and an understanding of safety on the road.

Below are a few short movies from a year ago on the first day she rode a pedal bike, taken within an hour of her first attempt. My favorite is the second clip during which she announces excitedly, "I made a heart." Here's to the first year of a long lifetime of riding.

BikeDenver's Kidical Mass ride

A consortium of local advocacy groups led by BikeDenver hosted the first Kidical Mass ride from Washington Park to Bonnie Brae ice cream. It was great fun, with lots of kids, parents and friends making the trek.

Slow and steady

The flower gardens in the park were in their prime

Some of the many bikes parked near the ice cream shop

She rode a while with Camille, who only recently learned to ride and was doing great on her vintage bike with a little help from her Mom

After the ice cream, many of the peloton made their way back to the park for more fun. The water of the irrigation ditch was prime for entertainment during the heat of the day.

Mud pies don't make themselves

Julie debuted her Xtracycle for the ride

A family of family bikes

At the end of the day we stopped by our friends Debbi and Teri's great local coffee shop, Wash Perk, for some cold drinks.

"I made my bike pretty like a queen bug bike and I was pretty in front of the coffee shop."

A tale of transition

Our little girl first rode a pedal bike at age four years ten months and four days on the bike below. I got this little 12.5 inch-wheeled bike for $5 at a second hand store. I put air in the tires, lubed the chain, removed the generous coating of scraped and faded princess-themed stickers, and it was good to go.

It is the typical inexpensive department store bike originally sold with training wheels (otherwise known as "the crutch that cripples"). Although it never had training wheels during the time we've had it, the bike arrived with a little warning sticker denoting that it was intended for use with training wheels only. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the warning sticker before I removed it with the other stickers. From modest origins, this bike has nevertheless been the perfect stepping stone from her 12.5 inch-wheeled Skuut balance bike, a great little bike in its own right.

Her first solo ride on a pedal bike was on May 20, 2010. She took to it immediately, her skills progressing exponentially each time she rode.

Since she has entered the domain of pedal bikes, this has been the primary shape of family transportation around our house:

The Dummy with the little bike stowed aboard the port side of the vessel. On side streets, trails and parks, she launches off on her own like a jet fighter from an aircraft carrier. It's been a good era. But now less than two months later, she's moved up to a 16 inch-wheeled bike. I bought the Schwinn Trixie a few years ago from a second hand shop for about $15 and prepped it for her older cousin Chloe, who used it to learn to ride. Now it has come back as a hand-me-down.

Prior to this bike, she dabbled with another 16 inch wheeled bike, rescued from a neighbor's trash pickup.

The little purple bike is leaving soon to help Chloe's little sister Meredith learn to ride. I wish the little bike well and cherish our time together. But things change and girls grow. Who knows what the future will hold, but with a Daddy like me, she is destined to a bike-filled childhood and is unlikely to ever be a one-bike kid.