Someone Likes Mountain Biking!

8 Years Old

Eighth Birthday Party from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.


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On Their Own Two Wheels

Last weekend, out of the blue, the kids asked to have the training wheels removed from their bikes. It came as a surprise because they didn't know how to ride without the training wheels. They spent almost no time on the bikes last summer, preferring instead to play on their scooters. But last Saturday they decided it was time to be independent. Within a very few minutes of practicing in the street, they were riding solo with minimal support. 

The next day, they were up early and asked to go to a park to ride their bikes. Happy to oblige the request, we packed up and drove to a local state park with long multi-use trail (MUT). Robert was off on his own almost immediately but Sammy required some coaching to get the bike going. They were both doing fine after a half-lap around the park.

Robert's skills are quite good. He seems to intuitively understand how to balance the bike and absorb shock with his arms and legs. His balance is excellent. At one point, while waiting for his sister to catch up, he rode around in figure 8's. It requires good bike control to swing back and forth from one loop of the 8 to another, yet he did it effortlessly. He also climbed a short hill by getting his butt off the saddle to deliver more energy to the pedals; again, not something most kids do on their second day of riding a bike.

By the end of the afternoon, both kids were comfortable enough to ride on unpaved surfaces.

Yesterday, we took the kids to a rail trail in the Hudson Valley for a change in scenery. We rode 8 miles through quiet forests from Highland to New Paltz, New York.

We finished up by going out onto the Walkway Over the Hudson to admire the view and take a photo.

Having the entire family on two wheels is liberating. It opens up a host of possibilities for summer vacation.

As always, if you want to view a larger version of any photo, click on it in your browser.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2015 from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

Piccolo Rides

We have had a Burley Piccolo for about two years now. It's an ingenious half-bike that connects to the back of one of Bob's bikes and allows the child to pedal and change gears on his or her own.

Burley Piccolo Rides June & July 2015 from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

Father's Day

Ward Pound Ridge from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

The Birthday Party

The kids celebrated their seventh birthday at the Long Island Childrens Museum the first weekend of May. In our community, very few families host backyard parties for the younger kids. A party is "an event" to be conducted at a remote location, with special activities and-most importantly-no cleanup afterwards. For their 7th, Sam and Robert wanted something spy-themed and it just so happened the local children's museum was able to accommodate that request.

Donna made lovely e-invitations that looked much like the photo above, but with Robert in a Bond-like costume. He's not a big fan of wearing the correct costume to the party, as you can see above. He was "disguised" as soccer star Lionel Messi!

The party began with a welcome committee meeting the kids in the lobby and taking them to an activity room where they did some spy-related arts & crafts and games. Then the kids formed two groups: one group hid clues out in the main museum, and the other had to find them. A cool pretext to get the kids moving around.

Then it was back to the activity room for lunch, cake and party favors.

Donna was very clever with the party favor bags…

The party was very nice. The aftermath wasn't.

Later that evening, Sammy asked to go to her favorite Mexican restaurant for hot dogs, of all things. We went out and got dogs from the supermarket and grilled them instead. As we were putting the dinner in front of the kids, Sammy got violently ill and stayed sick for the next 30 hours. Robert got sick the following day, Bob the next after that and Donna the next after Bob. The whole house was sick with GI illness for the better part of 8 days, extending into Donna's birthday and Mother's Day. Thankfully, ours was the only family impacted; we were worried that people got sick because of the party.

We are all recovered now and looking forward to the end of school and the start of a long summer.