get used to it

get used to it
Originally uploaded by Ben McLeod

I need to get used to this view of Liam on his bike.

He is such a great little rider. He's got incredible balance, is nimble-as-can-be, and has strong little legs. It blows me away when he asks how to do something - say, start the bike on your own - watches me demonstrate, listens to me explain, then hops on his bike and does it flawlessly on the first attempt! And if he doesn't get it on the first try, he simply tries again until he gets it right.

The poor kid is riding around on 12-inch wheels, so he has to pedal like hell just to keep the wheels rolling, and the slightest turn of the handlebars can send the bike careening out of control (thus the usefulness for his nimbleness...).

Once he gets a hold of a bike with normal-sized wheels, he'll be hard to contain.

Same name, new direction...

An announcement

I'm taking this little bloggy-blog in a new direction. Instead of being a bike-centric blog by a guy living in Oregon, it'll be a blog by a bike-centric guy living like a gypsy. I mean, the bike-thing can only go so far (unless of course you happen to be BikePortland or Cyclelicious...).

Nikki just started 15 months of six-week rotations, and so rather than sit around without her, we've decided to tag along. Her first rotation is up at Fort Lewis and began last week. It kinda sucks, but during this first rotation, we'll only see her on weekends. Her rotation ends when our current lease runs out, so we're following her onto the next stop: Boise, ID.

In the next few weeks, I'll pack most of our furniture - and most of our belongings - into storage so that the essentials in our life fit into (and onto) the Subaru. The boys and I will spend the month of July in Idaho with Nikki, then head to New Hampshire for the month of August. We'll meet up with Nikki in San Diego for the month of September, and then head back up to Oregon for October through December. Her first fall rotation is in Newberg, which is about 30-45 minutes south of PDX, and her second one will be in Portland, so we're not sure what we'll do about housing.

The gypsy life.

Stay tuned...

Back to the biking thing

Mr. Independent

After a few months backslide into the use of training wheels, Liam removed them piece-by-piece this week. We started on Monday by removing his left training wheel. He zipped around and mainly used the training wheel as a kickstand and for starting and stopping. The right training wheel kept hanging him up on right-hand turns, so on Friday he said to me, "Daddy, this thing is getting in my way. Let's take it off."

my little independent biker
Originally uploaded by Ben McLeod

He loved it and cruised up and down the street. Stopping was never an issue - he'd apply the brakes, put a foot down and stand there like he's been doing it for years - but starting was a different issue. Everytime he'd come to a stop on Friday, he'd look at me and say, "a little help, please," and I'd hold the back of his seat while he'd get going.

On Saturday, he looked at me and said, "I think I can start on my own. Show me again how to do it." I showed him, and off he went. First try. He's now a fully independent biker.

What's with the white vans?

I'm not really sure what's with me and white vans. It was a white van that drove me off the road last September, and today, I had a run in with yet another white van. My friend Bryce and I were out on a ride today when a white van came hauling ass around a corner about an eighth of a mile back, I heard them coming, and started to move into single file (we were riding next to each other - I realize it's not encouraged, but we were out on a rural road...) but these guys laid on the horn and sat on it as they approached us, passed us (and threw water on us - we hope!) and drove off.

Assholes.

bike train '09

bike train '09
Originally uploaded by Ben McLeod

Now that Liam has discovered that he can actually ride a bike, he provides the pedal-power and I steer. Camper is kind of like our horn; he's yelling most of the time.

Seriously, when Liam starts pedaling, it really pushes me along. We'll be coming up to an intersection and I'll yell, "green light! Pedal, pedal, pedal!" and I can feel the bike accelerate as he really starts pushing.

On the flats, I stop pedaling completely and let him provide the power. He loves it. He'll yell, "check it out Daddy, I can push you and pull Camper at the same time!

We were driving around east Portland yesterday. I can't wait for us to move into PDX and have access to the Springwater Corridor and Eastbank Esplanade.

'let go of me Uncle Dave'

'let go of me Uncle Dave'
Originally uploaded by Ben McLeod

After refusing to allow me let go of the bike, only an hour before, Liam turned to Dave, who was now pushing him and said, "let go of me Uncle Dave."

And off he rode. My boy is a two-wheeler now, and he's not looking back.

It's the best day-before-my-birthday present ever!!!

Thanks Uncle Dave!

future wearer of the yellow jersey

future wearer of the yellow jersey
Originally uploaded by Ben McLeod

We've been using the trail-a-bike so much that we almost forgot about Liam's bike.

Tonight, we were hanging out in the driveway so the boys could play with their sidewalk chalk when Camper came out of the garage with Liam's bike, saying, "bike? Bike?" Of course, Camper's a bit too small to ride (much to his disappointment) so he ran behind as Liam took off.

By the end, Liam had ridden around the block a half dozen times and was barely relying on the training wheels.

I nearly cried.