He Bikes

Yesterday afternoon I finally fixed Elias' bike. The chain kept coming off and this time it was really stuck between the gear and the bike frame. I got it apart, got the chain back on, and tightened the wheel up to the frame and made some other adjustments. The back wheel now spins perfectly.

I had taken the training wheels off weeks ago but Elias still needed to practice balancing before he could practicing pedaling. Elias, happy to have his bike back, started coasting down the driveway with his feet inches off the ground. HE kept veering off to the left, I reminded him that he needed to look up and steer. He still veered off to the left. He blamed the bike. "The bike doesn't have a mind of it's own. It does what it is told to do." I told him. He grumpily agreed but still was blaming the bike under his breath. I went off to investigate the lawn mower.

After awhile I noticed that Elias was now coasting down the driveway, turning onto the street and pedaling a few feet before losing his balance. He even started on the street, pedaled a few feet and lost his balance, falling into the grass. He was yelling at the "stupid bike." "That's right," I said " the bike is saying to itself that it doesn't like this boy riding on it so it's just going to keep pushing you off." He giggled at that and went for another go at it. He continued for awhile until I told him to come in for dinner. He was furious at the bike at this point and shouted over and over that he was going to put his training wheels back on. I kept silent and just led him into the house.
After dinner there was still enough time to go back outside. I went to work in the garden, Elias started back up with trying out his bike. The dinner must have worked wonders because after a few minutes he yelled at me to watch. He was riding. More than a few feet, he was riding down the street. He turned himself around and started up again. Again he rode down the street again, and again and again. He did it all by himself. I never even got the chance to run down the street behind him holding onto his seat. Though I supported him from afar and encouraged him he did it himself.

That's Elias. He can't stand to be wrong or not be able to do something and he won't give up until he can get it right.

Way to go Elias!

Oh! I figured out the trail-a-bike problem and attached it to my bike too yesterday. Hannah and I took a few trial runs down the street and back. She loved it. Now that Elias can bike on his own we can go on some bike rides around the neighborhood. Now we have a whole new batch of parks and playgrounds we can get to without driving.