friday flashback - a mini uncle dave

About a million years ago my three year old baby brother flung his leg across the seat of my two wheeler and pedaled his way off down the street with nary a look back. In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that this was the very same bike that I was having a hard time mastering. While the training wheels were on it mind you. And I was five. My Dad in all his crazy wisdom thought that mastering a two wheeler, sans the training wheels, might be easier for me. Why he thought this when I couldn't ride it with the training wheels on is beyond me, but I'm thinking that's crazy logic for ya. So anyway Dave and his perfect balance take off down the street and that was it. He's been riding ever since.

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.