It didn't look like it would be a good Christmas morning for riding. The weather was calling for rain and
cold wind. In fact, the power went off at 2:00 am. Anyway, it was a great Christmas as Cody was so excited to get his bike.
He tried on all the gear and amazingly it all fits! When it finally got light outside (he got up at 4:30 am) we put all the gear on (again) and headed to one of the neighbors yard (large, level, grass area with only one tree). They are only there on weekends and mostly during the summer months only. Anyway, Lesson 1: I show Cody where the brakes are and how to stop. Lessor 2: Next we discuss how to give it gas, where to put his feet, and again,
where the brakes are!!
I walk about 15 yards away and tell him to ride to me and stop! He gives it full throttle and proceeds to fly by me. Somehow he forgot the lesson on how to stop. I grab him off the bike as he goes by (he was heading for the woods). I pick the bike up, start it back up and once again we go over, Lesson 1: THESE ARE THE BRAKES, USE THEM!!
Now he seems to be getting used to the bike. He makes several trips up and down the grass, stopping each time before he turns around. So it only took three times for Lessor 1 to sink in. After a few more trips, he's now making turns without stopping. The longer he rides, the more confident he gets. Turning faster, leaning more to the side.
After about 20 minutes, he has pretty much gotten the hang of starting, stopping, and turning. I'm thinking this has been a pretty good first ride. Uh ooh... Lesson 3: ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS look where you're going or that one tree is going to jump in front of you when you're not looking. Well he learned this lessor also. At near full speed, WHAM right in to the tree. Why did he hit the tree? He was looking at us to see if we were watching him. Oh we were watching all right!!
He sat down and cried for a little bit but after a while I got on my bike and told him to get back on his, we were going riding. I wasn't about to let him put it up after a crash. He rode for about 10 more minutes (looking where he was going this time) and them we put the bikes in the garage. It was freezing cold!
In the end, he was laughing and ready to go riding some more. He laughed when I told him to be careful, those trees will jump right in front of you if you're not paying attention.
Pictures of First Ride