C
Claire Petersky
Guest
Per some recent thread on rec.bicycles.misc regarding pre-teens and a lack
of bikes for them, Dane recently sold, at supposedly cost of parts (not the
cost of labor, though) a nice older Peugot road bike to me for my 12 year
old to ride. He fixed 'er up with some new parts and spiffy new handlebar
tape.
We came over to pick it up the other day. Emma's been riding an old kids'
Zed mountain bike for years, which she's really out-grown, so she's gotten
far too used to having her feet squarely on the ground for take-off. Having
to launch and then sit on the seat, along with getting used to drop bar hand
positions and brakes was a little overwhelming at first. Dane lives on a
fairly quiet street, but every time she'd take off from his driveway, a car
would somehow appear and freak her out. I think she went into the bushes at
least once.
Well, we took it home, and I told her she'd need to practice on our street
for a while. Unlike around by Dane's house on a hill, our house is on a
long, only slightly sloped, low traffic street. It's really good to learn
how to ride a bike on, or practice riding. You can go a couple of houses to
the end of the street, launch, and get a gentle, slight downhill slope to
coast and practice balancing. When you get to the end (in a cul-de-sac), you
get a gentle uphill to practice your pedalling to get home again.
Our street, in part because it is sort of flat, and also because there's
lots of families in the neighborhood, has a roving pack of kids on it all
summer long. I was coming home from work on the bike, and there's a clump of
kids, maybe ages 9 - 14 hanging out, including Emma on her new bike.
"Hey look!" she yells. "I've got it down now!" and she takes off after me on
the Peugot. She races me to the driveway, but I already had the momentum,
and I beat her hands down. But I bet for the rest of the summer, when it
comes to racing, she's going to have a lot of wins. The neighborhood
regularly sees kids' bike races down the street (that gentle downslope I
mentioned), and even with the knobby tires on her mountain bike, Emma was a
champ. With a road bike and slicks, it's going to be no contest.
--
Warm Regards,
Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
of bikes for them, Dane recently sold, at supposedly cost of parts (not the
cost of labor, though) a nice older Peugot road bike to me for my 12 year
old to ride. He fixed 'er up with some new parts and spiffy new handlebar
tape.
We came over to pick it up the other day. Emma's been riding an old kids'
Zed mountain bike for years, which she's really out-grown, so she's gotten
far too used to having her feet squarely on the ground for take-off. Having
to launch and then sit on the seat, along with getting used to drop bar hand
positions and brakes was a little overwhelming at first. Dane lives on a
fairly quiet street, but every time she'd take off from his driveway, a car
would somehow appear and freak her out. I think she went into the bushes at
least once.
Well, we took it home, and I told her she'd need to practice on our street
for a while. Unlike around by Dane's house on a hill, our house is on a
long, only slightly sloped, low traffic street. It's really good to learn
how to ride a bike on, or practice riding. You can go a couple of houses to
the end of the street, launch, and get a gentle, slight downhill slope to
coast and practice balancing. When you get to the end (in a cul-de-sac), you
get a gentle uphill to practice your pedalling to get home again.
Our street, in part because it is sort of flat, and also because there's
lots of families in the neighborhood, has a roving pack of kids on it all
summer long. I was coming home from work on the bike, and there's a clump of
kids, maybe ages 9 - 14 hanging out, including Emma on her new bike.
"Hey look!" she yells. "I've got it down now!" and she takes off after me on
the Peugot. She races me to the driveway, but I already had the momentum,
and I beat her hands down. But I bet for the rest of the summer, when it
comes to racing, she's going to have a lot of wins. The neighborhood
regularly sees kids' bike races down the street (that gentle downslope I
mentioned), and even with the knobby tires on her mountain bike, Emma was a
champ. With a road bike and slicks, it's going to be no contest.
--
Warm Regards,
Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
