Marcos the biker

Last month, Marcos learned to ride his bike without training wheels. I took the pedals and cranks from his little bike and lowered the seat so that he could scoot himself with his feet and practice balancing on the driveway. That was on a Monday. By Friday, I had already put back cranks and pedals and he was riding along by himself, up and down the driveway.

So, last week, he decided that he was ready for the next level and, on his own, took some pieces of wood from the garage and stacked them to make a ramp for him to jump over on his bike.






On Friday, while watching him practice, K. or I mentioned something about how someday he and I will be able to go mountain biking together. Well, that quickly turned into Marcos being convinced that he and I were going mountain biking next day. So, next day, we decided to take him to Blankets Creek, a local mountain bike trail and see what he thought.

Blankets Creek has a trail network with loops for all skill levels and I was sure that he'd be fine on the beginner "Mosquito Flats" 1.2 mile loop. I was a little worried because he had not left the parking lot and already had a couple of spills trying to turn to hard on the gravel, but his attitude of not giving up quickly erase any worries.

As he rode along, I jogged next to him, advising him on what was coming up and making sure that he'd be safe and also watching out for incoming traffic. Kristi walked along behind us and we stopped at the intersections "to wait for mommy" (really, to catch our breath!). I can't remember any prouder moment for me than this Saturday, listening to him giggling because he was having so much fun, blasting down the trail, bouncing off roots on his tiny 10" tires, feeling like the king of the trail. Even Kristi, further behind, out of sight, could hear him laughing as he sped along the trail, crossing bridges, powering through the short little dirt jumps, etc.

Marcos wanted to "go around 5 times"! We ventured into "Mosquito Bites", another mile of trail that is still a beginner-level trail, but it is not flat. I helped him climb the hills, letting him put down a good effort. Once at the top, it was all I could do to make sure that he would slow down on the downhill portion enough to make the next turn. He loved bombing the downhills, while I was trying to hold my eyes in their sockets with one hand and running along him at top speed to help him slow down enough for the turn. At one point he hit a root, but the wheels being so tiny just slammed and stopped instead of rolling over and he hit his knee on the bars and fell. As he told me that he hurt his knee, I asked him if he wanted to take a break. He promptly answered "No! I have to keep trying and keep going!". How's THAT for a 4 and a half year old! Proudest moment ever!!!

We also played a little bit in the skills area. Going over the teeter-totter, the jumps, logs, etc. He wanted to do everything! He'll be able to tackle them by himself once he can ride a bike with larger wheels to help roll over some of the stuff better.

In the end, he rode about 3 miles of trail. He got tons of encouragement from all the people that we met while riding along. The cheering and comments made his day. With the promise of ice cream and after a good workout (him, Kristi and me as well!), we packed things up and stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way home. This was badly needed. The three of us looked like we'd jumped into a lake with our clothes on.

While leaving the trail parking lot, he exclaimed "I feel GREAT!". I know that feeling, my boy, I know it really well. Welcome to the brotherhood. I am so proud of you and can't wait for the day when you take me on an all-day epic.