Bikes And Back Pulls...

We bought our oldest grandsons used bikes this summer from DI and a neighbor, thinking we would give them a little more mobility and more inclusiveness with their friends. Kalin's bike was almost stolen at his school. He managed to catch the perp in the act and retrieve it. But then he broke a pedal and hasn't used it since. Our neighbor Dave Rader who sold it to us, keeps telling me to bring it back so he can fix it. He has a bike fix-ation...get it? Fix-ation???

Moving on, Kai has used his more this Summer, with minor wear and tear. But Megan got a call from Joanie over at the bike shop, who she also happens to Visit Teach, reminding her that we paid for a new tire for Kai's bike and it was now in. So I put it in the car with some minor back strain and took it over for the replacement. As I watched the kid put it on and add some new rubber handles that had come off, I was taken with the sheer bikeness of it all - and how I have no talent or inclination to learn how to fix bikes or know much about them for that matter. And they are so much more complicated now, with all the wires regulating the brakes and gears. How can anyone keep up? Especially if you could never fix them in the first place?

The last time I rode a bike I think was back when my brother Dick and I had paper routes and would fly around the neighborhood throwing the papers as near to the front porches as we could without breaking a window or glass door. But once in a while, we had a lot of daring for two pre-teens and would ride these bikes all the way from Silver Spring down through Rock Creek Park to the Washington DC Zoo. What an adventure, taking our cameras for some cool animal shots, crossing fords that ran over some of the roads on the way back.

My bike daze have been long over, although my wife wants us to get bikes - but only secure and uncomplicated ones like we used to ride as kids. She forgets we've gained many more pounds since then than these bikes would hold. She actually wants an adult trike - yikes! - so she doesn't fall over and break some more brittle bones. Maybe she can pull me along behind her.

And oh yeah, I got a nice back pull I'm nursing right now, just putting Kai's bike in the car. Bikes can be real banes sometimes...