Hit the park

You just upgraded ‘firecracker’ from a 12″ to a 16″ …. what do you do?  Well, you hit the park.  Her idea, not mine.

Dell went into the bike shop  last week and her eyes lit up when she saw ‘firecracker 5′ hanging from the ceiling.  2 days later, she’s bombing dirt hills … jumping curbs and noting that ‘the pink firecracker goes a lot faster than firecracker’.

She’s a 16″ Specialized Hotrock … sort of some hybrid bmx/mtb.  The components are warrantied for life (evil grin) .. so that’s cool.  I had my heart on a few different BMX builds – but this one spoke to her.

Note to parents …

a) DO NOT BUY YOUR KID A CHEAP TARGET BIKE

b) DO NOT BUY YOUR KID A CHEAP ‘GENERIC’ BIKE

c) If you want your kid to enjoy riding a bike.  Roll with something that has reputable components and a light build frame.  If you buy a heavy, cheap bike it will make riding a bike seem like homework or cutting with a dull blade.  Not fun.

How did Dell get into riding Firecracker 5?

We started with a tiny skateboard (she’s fearless) but bicycling seemed more her vibe.  Next we found a cool 12″ Trek on craigslist.  She started out with training wheels and it took quite a while to get her to leave them behind.  First, I taught her some duck walking (walking a bike with no training wheels).  Next we focused on how to coast and use your feet to stop or stay upright.  I think the shift in the weather came with a trail-a-bike attached to my bike.  She could pedal, she could go fast … she realized she could do it on her own.  Lex will start with a ‘balance bike’ first – I highly recommend avoiding training wheels if you can.

J