May 16, 2007
Wheels on fire
Recently we decided to take Jacob's trainer wheels off his bicycle. Not just so that we could watch him fall over but because one of them was worn out and he was also starting to rely on them too much. Once we mooted the idea Jacob was keen to 'ride like the big boys' and we decided to celebrate the occasion with a new helmet, his old one having a couple of nasty cracks in it.
Having selected a helmet with flames on it, (when saying the word flames you should use hushed tones of admiration, make your eyes large and round in awe and move your right hand in a gesture of something speeding past) Jacob was raring to go.
First we practised what he needed to do when stopping, ie:put his feet on the ground! Then we moved on to the serious stuff. After only a couple of goes with me holding his seat very lightly I was able to let go of him for seconds at a time. We called it a day before he got too tired but decided to have another practice on Saturday when Dad would be home from Perth and we could impress the pants off him.
Saturday morning Jacob couldn't wait to show Dad how he could ride 'by himself'. I thought it might take a bit of a warm up to get to the same point so was pretty impressed when the first attempt Jacob took off, cycling a good ten metres with no assistance from me. After that there was no stopping him! He did maybe twenty passes up and down the laneway we were using, practising his starting and stopping techniques until eventually he finished with a burn-out! Remind me never to mention the drag racing that still goes on in Lygon St to him.
And here, for the rellies, is another eerily silent film, documentary evidence of his riding skills, the new helmet (with flames on it) and the absence of trainer wheels!
Posted by Faith