We decided, well Colin decided really by him growing so freakin' much over the winter, that he would need a new bicycle for this summer. I already knew I was buying Kelly a new ride and added Colin's new steed to the shopping cart as well.
Colin loves riding his bike, just like Daddy! I eat, sleep and breathe mountain bikes since I was about 13 years old when I got my first one from Canadian Tire. Dad (My dad), brought it home for me and I was instantly hooked. Being able to go anywhere on my bike instead of sticking to the roads on my freestyle BMX bikes was a new found freedom to me. My two best friends growing up Glen and Tim both got their bikes at the same time so we were the three amigos tearing up the trails around Grand Falls-Windsor.
When the time came to teach Colin how to ride, it was a great experience for me. I was home with him one morning and he was booting around the driveway on his scooter and asked if he could ride his bike. I said YES! He had to have "lessons" in order to ride and we came up with a number. 15! That was how many lessons he said it was going to take to ride his bike. I put his bike (the red one in the first picture) in low gear so he could not get away from me while I hang on to him. We set off!
Immediately, I could feel him balancing himself while learning to pedal correctly. I knew in my heart, 15 was way too many lessons for him to be riding. After a day of me holding on to him around the driveway, we settled into the house and relaxed. The next morning we were out at it again. This time, he asked me if he could ride by himself. I brought him to the front lawn so he would have something softer to fall on. He never fell once. He was off and riding. First he would just ride in a straight line until I told him to stop. After a few times doing that, I told him to ride a couple of laps around the tree in front of our house. That was it! He could ride his bike unassisted. Total "lesson" count - 3. I had to come up with some other lesson ideas just to get to 15. I made a course out of empty windshield wash bottles filled with water so he could get used to turning different sized turns. Made him brake runs, etc. Done. 15 lessons in the bag.
Fast forward to this spring. He was riding his red supercycle and I noticed he was like yogi bear riding his scooter. Too big a bear, too small a bike. Kelly and I were in St. John's and visited SportChek and were looking at bikes. This yellow bike caught our eye. It was the perfect size, lightweight and had a decent parts setup on it. We also found a sweet bike for her too! We ordered them up and 3 weeks later they were at our door.
The evening they showed up, I packed them up and brought them down to my shop were all my tools etc, are. Colin and I, well, Colin under my direction were going to build and tune the two bikes.
We broke open the box on his bike and his eyes lit up. He was so happy to get a new bike. I got him to take all the protective packaging off the bike and I put it on my bike stand. He went to work doing everything I asked. From putting the front wheel on to installing the handlebars and seat. After that he adjusted the brakes, derailluers, and sizing for him. He finished off his bike by oiling the chain and it was done!
We then turned our attention to Kelly's new bike. A sweet GT bicycles bike. I have always liked GT. My first bike was a supercycle with a GT inspired triple triangle frame design. I have been riding Specialized for 20 plus years, but I think my next ride will be a fully decked out GT sensor. Well, I digress! Colin made short work building Kelly's bike because he knew what to do from his bike. His memory is astounding. So, we have our bikes built, all tuned up and ready to ride.
Time to head off on adventures on our mountain bikes. We are going to have a blast on these things!
See you next time.
Steve, Kelly and Colin!