time flies, biking edition

Charlie has entered another new level of biking. Considering he was quite reluctant to ever ride a bike in the first place (his all terrain trike was just fine, thank you very much), seeing how far he has come in six years boggles my mind. It was the fall of 2003, and since he had started kindergarten, he thought perhaps it was time to move to two wheels. So we took him to a park near our house, that had a long, easy sloping hill. We lowered his seat so he could easily touch the ground, and just let him go down the hill, learning balance. Not long after that, he was pedaling, and...tada! Riding a bike. No training wheels required.

Six years, and several bikes later (it's amazing how quickly they grow out of their bikes at each level), he is now the proud owner of a Haro, which he tells me is THE bmx bike of choice. This conclusion was reached after much on-line research, reading reviews, comparing prices, etc. (Yes, he is his father's son in that regard).He paid for part of it, from the proceeds of selling his other bike on Craig's List (you're never too young to learn the fine points of commerce), and Mike and I purchased the bulk of it for his birthday. (It's really no fun to get a new bike in October, an early birthday present is a dandy idea.)

He was enthralled by the recent X Games, and loves to go out and try his own tricks. He found a sand hill at a local park, and he and three friends went to try it out. He begged me to go with him one night, so he could show me his stuff.

I brought the camera, to document it all. Now I am just hoping he doesn't decide he wants to do tricks like this with his dirt bike. (Although he certainly wears a lot more protective gear on the dirt bike.)

He ended up feeling rather down, as he said "How come I always do my best riding when no one is watching?" (this kid is way too hard on himself.)

But I assured him it was quite impressive, and once the sun went down we finished up the night with a Dairy Queen. As I am pretty sure bike riders need lots of calcium.