Easy Rider

After much hemming and hawing (pretty much since he's been born), we bought a bike seat for Alton to ride in. They are pretty impressive these days, much more so than the seats of our youth, which were little more than a booster screwed somewhere onto the adult bike frame. These days, it has a three-point harness, foot rests, roll bar handle and suspension. Add in a helmet, and Alton and I are practically ready for the X Games. We made our trip to the bike store at the end of May, where Alton tried on a helmet and posed on a balance bike--we can't wait until he's old enough for one of those! (A balance bike is a bike with no pedals so that the child's footpower is what makes it move forward. It teaches the kid to balance on the bike from side to side, the essential skill for being able to ride a bike with no training wheels. Ask Matt and Di for the story of how it works, for real!)


Andy installed the bike seat after completing his stellar, amazing, gorgeous, professional-quality paver patio, but Alton has been sick this week with a stomach bug, so the seat sat unused until this morning for his inaugural ride. But that didn't stop us from fitting his helmet on properly while he was relaxing in the playroom on a hot afternoon. We kept the helmet on while he read books so that he would get used to it and distracted by everything around him.

The helmet brand is called a "nutcase," and their baby/kid helmets are called "Little Nutty." The tagline (LOVE it) is: "I love my brain."

This morning, after much pumping of tires, tightening of brakes, adjusting of seatbelts and more, Alton was ready for his first bike ride! We just practiced up and down the street today to make sure that we were not too far from home in case Alton didn't enjoy himself, but he had a great time! He didn't fuss about his helmet or the harnesses, sat back and relaxed, and even chattered a little at parked cars and waved hello to "Daddy! Daddy!"


Daddy also took a turn!


We are very excited for this new family activity. Andy has a bike and, you will remember, was avidly riding to work in the gorgeous fall weather last year and intends to start it up again this summer. He bought me my bike as a birthday gift the first year we were together to replace my old one and we used to enjoy riding together on the suburban streets of Vallejo, where we lived when we were first married. After moving to Oakland, a much more urban neighborhood with busy streets that made biking a little scary, we stuck to walking the dog more than two-wheeling it. Now safely ensconced on less hectic roads once more, we're looking forward to challenging ourselves with some summer riding time.
It's just too bad Minerva can't join in...or can she? Hmm.