Bikes have always been a big part of Dave's life. Even now he's training for a major fundraising ride he's organized. He and a crew of like minded individuals will be riding the 1000 kms it takes to get around Lake Ontario later this summer in The Ride For Africycle 2.0.
Turning our attention now to "back in the day" - Dave was a competitive BMX racer. The picture above is Dave at the beginning of his racing career. He's probably about the age Abby is now. This was an activity my parents really got on board with. They found a track for him to race at and threw themselves into volunteering. They were a huge part of the success of the local track at the time. Dave's racing was a huge part of our family life.
Fast forward a few decades and here I have this wonderful little girl who not very long ago throws her leg over the seat of a two wheeler and off she goes with nary a glance back. Mike and I were shocked because whenever the subject of getting rid of her training wheels came up she insisted that she wasn't ready and maybe we should ask her again when she turned seven. Abby taught herself to ride at the sitters where there is a plethora of bikes to choose from. at home she only had one, a Dora bike she'd gotten a couple of birthdays ago. Mike took the training wheels off of it and adjusted it all he could, but there was no getting around it. She'd outgrown her bike.
We promised her a bike shopping trip, so one evening off we went. We had to make a stop at a sporting goods store where we only intended on purchasing shoes. Then the Cream Soda caught Abby's eye. It was the perfect size for her plus had room to grow. The frame was painted an iridescent baby blue, appropriately coloured streamers hung from the handle bars and it had retro styling. It was the bike she wanted. This particular Cream Soda bike had already been purchased by someone so we went to the bike section to pick out one of our own.
Arriving there Abby pointed a finger and said, "actually I want the green one." Right beside the Cream Soda was the mint green Polka Dot. Virtually identical bikes save the colour packages.
"Oh the Polka Dot? That's a nice bike too."
"No! The green one!"
I'm not sure why she picked this bike. And I do admit trying to talk her into one of the more girly bikes. Maybe she was channeling her Uncle Dave at that moment. I do know that she was adamant that this was the bike for her and nothing was going to change her mind. And after the sales people came back with a bargain basement price tag, a year of free tune ups and a very nice 5 year warranty we agreed as well.
7 comments:
I love that Abby eschewed the typical girly bike (although it sounded ultra-cool) and went for the sporty model. That's great.
Do you have a track near your house? :)
Such a rad bike! Abby...you are too cool for school, girl!
;-)
What sporting goods store were you shopping at? It looks like a more "substantial" bike than the ones they were selling at "Toys 4 Us" (as the girls' call it).
Karen - there used to be. I'm sure there still is, but I have no idea where. That kind of thing hasn't been a part of my life in a long long time.
Normie - She likes to think so:)
hey where is the picture of you waving the checkered flag for those racers :)
Cool ride Abby! Glad to see that you got your uncle's genes! ;-)
That is one sweet ride!
Mom - I'm sure it's tucked into an album somewhere. I didn't come across when I found the one of Dave though.
Julie - Well Abby thinks anything that Uncle Dave likes is pretty cool. He's a big deal around here.
David - I told ya.
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