Austen's First Bike Ride
Although I've taken my bike into the shop twice since moving to Philadelphia—once to get a tune-up and once to get a child-seat installed—up until yesterday I'd yet to actually ride my bike here. Consequently, Austen had never been on a bike ride, either. Yesterday that all changed when Al, Austen, and I braved the incredibly crowded bike path along Boathouse Row (hello, people: KEEP RIGHT!).
Austen wasn't too crazy about the helmet or the foot straps, but he really seemed to enjoy the ride. (I tried to forego the footstraps, but he kept kicking my heels as I pedaled. Too bad there were no hand straps, as he also kept poking me in the butt.) His eyes watered from the wind, but he seemed to find the ride relaxing—in fact, he fell asleep on the return.
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Comments (4)
Poking you in the butt, eh?? I bet he also had an evil laugh accompanying each poke! As for the wind making his eyes water...would he wear sunglasses or tear them off?
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April 6, 2006 6:57 PM
Posted on April 6, 2006 18:57
That's a great photo - you are braver than I am, I've been afraid to try the bike seat with Ellen. Was it hard to balance while getting on/off the bike & getting started? What brand do you have & would you recommend it? We may have to try this now that you've paved the way!
Posted by Jean | April 7, 2006 12:48 PM
Posted on April 7, 2006 12:48
I thought it was going to be really hard to balance, get on/off, and get started, but it really wasn't. OK, getting on and off was a bit harder because I had to lift my leg over the crossbar rather than swinging it around the back, but after about 30 seconds on the bike I felt pretty confident that I wouldn't crash. I'm a total chicken when it comes to riding in traffic, and it obviously took me months to actually try the seat after buying it, but now that I have I can't wait to do it again.
The seat we got is called a CoPilot; I forget who makes it, but I would definitely recommend it. If you get an extra rack for Sho's bike, you can move the seat from one bike to the other pretty easily. The owner of the bike shop said that he used to drop his kid (and the seat!) off at day care in the morning, and his wife would ride by in the evening to pick them up. Worked great.
As an aside, I meant to mention in this post that a few mintues into our ride I remembered why I stopped commuting to work by bike in CA: It aggravates the tendonitis in my right arm. :(
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April 7, 2006 1:31 PM
Posted on April 7, 2006 13:31
forgot to answer you about the sunglasses, Josie -- yes, he would tear them off. :) lately he's been interested in playing with mine, however, so maybe there's hope.
I didn't notice him laughing snarkily while poking me in the butt, but he does have quite an evil mastermind laugh (he gets it from his paternal grandfather). maybe it was drowned out by the wind noise?
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April 12, 2006 10:12 AM
Posted on April 12, 2006 10:12