Learning to Ride a Bike

No not me. I know how to ride a bike. In fact I have owned several bikes. The first one I remember was pink with a pink banana seat with white hibiscus flowers and a white basket that had pink flowers on it. I put these little neon colored pieces of plastic on the spokes that clacked when I rode.

Behind the seat was a raised metal bar that my Pap (grandfather) would hold onto while I rode. No training wheels for this girl. One day he just let go. I looked back and realized he was gone. I was so happy until I totally wasn't watching and rode right off the sidewalk and crashed. Good thing Pap was a great cheerleader and got me right back on the bike. It is such a great memory I will always cherish.

A couple weekends ago we took our friend's daughter to Cycleworks in Wrightsville, PA. She's almost big enough for one size bike, and a little too big for the size down. She rode the littler bike for a while because it had training wheels.

She leans a little to the side, but she's new. She'll get the hang of it.

Unfortunately although she liked the little purple bike, it wouldn't have lasted long as she would have outgrown it too quickly.

Luckily they had a used bike in the next size up that was in the basement. No training wheels on that one, so she needed daddy's help.

Still got that lean. :-)

She was a little overwhelmed with all the grown ups talking so I grabbed her and we went to the front of the store to have a little alone girl talk. Very maturely we discussed the two bikes. Did she like the purple one because of the color and how it rode, or because it had training wheels? Or was she ok with the white and pink bike, but just wasn't comfortable because of the lack of training wheels that could be put on.

After some very adult discussions (she's only 5) and some snuggling, we called her mom up to talk about our decision. She then called daddy and Josh up to let them all know. We had decided that the pink and white bigger bike was what she wanted, but she wanted training wheels. Smart girl.

Well luckily, not only did they have some training wheels for the used bike, BUT they also had a brand new bike that was the same (just a year newer). Hmmm. Mommy and daddy were looking for a bike for her grandmother's house too. After some discussions with the bike guys, they agreed to lower the price on both if they bought both bikes.

So our little goober got a brand new bike for her parent's house and the same bike in the used version for her grandparent's house!!

The newer bike is in the foreground.

I only hope we can create some fun memories for her when she's older that she will look back on fondly as I do mine.

Love you my little goober.

*hugs and kisses*

mj