I had been trying to get my wife and daughter out riding. occassionaly my daughter would go with me but was never enthuiastic about riding and after an hour or so she would want to go home.
Last week I was on vacation and had a few days that I wasn't doing anything so Sunday I told my daughter she was going riding with me at NJORVP. I also told her that I thought she was ready to go on the intermediate track (if I follow her). She seemed a little excited about trying the track out. So on the way over to the park I talk to her about all the turns and what they were like. I told her which ones were flat and which had ruts and how to ride them.
When we got there she was a little scared (and so was I) and wanted to ride the begginer track for a while first. After a few times around the track she built up the nerve to try the larger track. She told me she was ready so after a little more instruction from me I led her to the entrance of the track and told her when to go.
She pretty much followed all my instructions about riding the turns and made it all the way around the track. With me following close behind. I expected her to ride off the track after the first lap to tell me if she liked it or not but she continued to ride for three laps. We rode off the track and pulled over. She looked at me with a big smile and said "That was fun, lets go again". Without waiting for me she shot back over to the entrance to the track as I rushed to catch up.
There were a couple minor crashes as she experimented in the turns but nothing that made her want to quit. Whe must have done about thirty laps on that track a little faster each time. The weather started to look bad so we packed up just before it started to pour. We had so much fun that we went back Friday with my wife.
My wife has been scared to ride and the few times that she has gone riding, hasn't been real inspirational.
We got to the park and geared up. I had them both follow me to the begginer track and we all went around once. I looked and there was my wife trying to paddle the bike with her feet through the turns. She got to the end and said "I don't like this track". So I then took her toward the Quad track. Near the entrance to the track they have a big open area. We stopped there and I started to tell her what we were going to practice there. She told me she just wanted to practice on her own and that we could go ride.
So back to the intermediate track. We rode for about four hours that day with several breaks. Me following closely behind my daughter so nobody runs her over. Instructing her when to move over so others could pass. As the day went on I watched her experimenting on different sections. I also noticed her standing up on the hills. I had often instructed her on when to stand up but she didn't always do it. I thought that's great she's practicing standing up. As we went around a few more times I noticed that she started gassing it at the top of the hill. It hit me, she's trying to jump the hill! :eek: :) I was a little scared and kinda happy. I didn't want discourage her but I was a little nervous about encouraging her too. She was having fun and I just let her go. Towards the end she did get the front wheel off the ground little.
We started to get hungry and it was time to go. I went to get my wife. As I got closer I was watching her ride. She was going faster then ever before. She was riding figure eights faster then she had previously ridden in a straight line. :) It's all starting to come together.
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The day was not without mishap. I figured that I would be following behind my daughter all day so why wear my elbow pads. I'm not going fast, it's hot and they can be uncomfortable.
One of the times my daughter pulled off the track I decided to take a lap myself. I came to the last jump which I usually hit in second gear I thought lets try it in third. My rear wheal got kicked up, my feet came off the pegs. As I struggled and got my feet back on the pegs the front wheel touched the ground. The bike slid to the right and I came straight down on my chest. I was fine (I love my chest protector) I went to get up. I'm still sliding :eek: slid across my fore-arm when I realized it I flipped over to slide on the back of my chest/back protector. This became a lesson to my daughter, This is why you wear all your protective gear.
The second accident of the day was going over the starting hill. We had just cleared the hill and a beggining rider who I guess was not looking ahead hit my rear tire then took me down with him. As the bike was falling I stepped out to the left to catch myself. As I did the handlebars came right down on my foot. :whiner: Dam that hurt.
Me and my daughter also started going to a BMX track close by on Monday night. She crashed a couple of times but know she's having a ball we're going to buy her a new bike for the track. Don't know if i'm gonna get myself a cruiser or a 20" to ride with her but either way this is fun!!!
Last week I was on vacation and had a few days that I wasn't doing anything so Sunday I told my daughter she was going riding with me at NJORVP. I also told her that I thought she was ready to go on the intermediate track (if I follow her). She seemed a little excited about trying the track out. So on the way over to the park I talk to her about all the turns and what they were like. I told her which ones were flat and which had ruts and how to ride them.
When we got there she was a little scared (and so was I) and wanted to ride the begginer track for a while first. After a few times around the track she built up the nerve to try the larger track. She told me she was ready so after a little more instruction from me I led her to the entrance of the track and told her when to go.
She pretty much followed all my instructions about riding the turns and made it all the way around the track. With me following close behind. I expected her to ride off the track after the first lap to tell me if she liked it or not but she continued to ride for three laps. We rode off the track and pulled over. She looked at me with a big smile and said "That was fun, lets go again". Without waiting for me she shot back over to the entrance to the track as I rushed to catch up.
There were a couple minor crashes as she experimented in the turns but nothing that made her want to quit. Whe must have done about thirty laps on that track a little faster each time. The weather started to look bad so we packed up just before it started to pour. We had so much fun that we went back Friday with my wife.
My wife has been scared to ride and the few times that she has gone riding, hasn't been real inspirational.
We got to the park and geared up. I had them both follow me to the begginer track and we all went around once. I looked and there was my wife trying to paddle the bike with her feet through the turns. She got to the end and said "I don't like this track". So I then took her toward the Quad track. Near the entrance to the track they have a big open area. We stopped there and I started to tell her what we were going to practice there. She told me she just wanted to practice on her own and that we could go ride.
So back to the intermediate track. We rode for about four hours that day with several breaks. Me following closely behind my daughter so nobody runs her over. Instructing her when to move over so others could pass. As the day went on I watched her experimenting on different sections. I also noticed her standing up on the hills. I had often instructed her on when to stand up but she didn't always do it. I thought that's great she's practicing standing up. As we went around a few more times I noticed that she started gassing it at the top of the hill. It hit me, she's trying to jump the hill! :eek: :) I was a little scared and kinda happy. I didn't want discourage her but I was a little nervous about encouraging her too. She was having fun and I just let her go. Towards the end she did get the front wheel off the ground little.
We started to get hungry and it was time to go. I went to get my wife. As I got closer I was watching her ride. She was going faster then ever before. She was riding figure eights faster then she had previously ridden in a straight line. :) It's all starting to come together.
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The day was not without mishap. I figured that I would be following behind my daughter all day so why wear my elbow pads. I'm not going fast, it's hot and they can be uncomfortable.
One of the times my daughter pulled off the track I decided to take a lap myself. I came to the last jump which I usually hit in second gear I thought lets try it in third. My rear wheal got kicked up, my feet came off the pegs. As I struggled and got my feet back on the pegs the front wheel touched the ground. The bike slid to the right and I came straight down on my chest. I was fine (I love my chest protector) I went to get up. I'm still sliding :eek: slid across my fore-arm when I realized it I flipped over to slide on the back of my chest/back protector. This became a lesson to my daughter, This is why you wear all your protective gear.
The second accident of the day was going over the starting hill. We had just cleared the hill and a beggining rider who I guess was not looking ahead hit my rear tire then took me down with him. As the bike was falling I stepped out to the left to catch myself. As I did the handlebars came right down on my foot. :whiner: Dam that hurt.
Me and my daughter also started going to a BMX track close by on Monday night. She crashed a couple of times but know she's having a ball we're going to buy her a new bike for the track. Don't know if i'm gonna get myself a cruiser or a 20" to ride with her but either way this is fun!!!
