Flatballer

Another generation of cyclists.

Daughter tried out her new balance bike today. She sat and pushed and did a pretty good job, only fell once (dropped the bike is more accurate), did okay turning. Didn't coast, that'll come.

Only thing she hates is the helmet. Got her a cool Giro with fancy purple paint job so she'd like it, but then the strap was too tight (thanks dad) and pinched her the first time and after that it was a fight.

Ended up getting a Cruzee. Super light, pretty nice, not the cheapest.

Fun to pass on though.

big john

Friend and BF member Biker395 finished RAAM today as part of a 4 person team, I think 9 weeks after a skiing crash caused him to need surgery on his knee.
Started the race still walking on crutches but with the blessing of his doctor. I'm happy he got to do it but he didn't have much time to prepare. Thankfully he was in great shape and is a veteran of ultra-type racing.

himespau 

We went with the TykesBikes 12 (which now no longer appears to exist), but I had the same helmet issue as you. One pinch and it was a month before I could get it on him again. Then I did the opposite approach, started with it overly loose and have been gradually tightening it until now it fits properly (kind of the whole boiling frog by gently increasing the temp thing).

With my older daughter, we started later and I just took a 16" giant and removed the crankset. That ended up being too heavy for her at 2.5-3, when we started, so going light is a good idea. I almost went with one of those resin like a bikes for my younger child, but he's a big burly kid so the heavier aluminum frame at 12" didn't slow him down.

Flatballer

Yeah, I loosened it some, I might loosen it more though. She's not in much danger walking around the patio like she is, it's more to establish that she has to wear a helmet, so maybe ridiculously loose to the point of useless is fine for a little while.

There was definitely an internal battle going on though. She desperately wanted to ride the bike, but really didn't want to wear the helmet. So she'd ask to ride the bike, we'd say you have to put the helmet on, she'd let us put the helmet on, but then when we'd start to put the strap on she'd take it off and cry. Rinse and repeat for about half an hour.

himespau 

My son got really good at the balance bike (while trying to keep up with his big sister on her 16") last year. This year, he wanted a pedal bike, so I got him one. The thing is, he's never learned how to pedal. I've tried putting training wheels on, but that seemed a step back after he learned to balance/glide. I got a followme tandem setup to attach his bike to mine or my wife's, hoping he could learn to pedal with use, but also go on his own. Now, he'll only go on a bike ride if the bikes are coupled and then he just sits back and rings his bell other than occasionally laying on his coaster brake or laughing at me because I'm pedaling so fast but the wheel is going so slow when we're going up significant grades. The only thing he's seemed to learn is how to not do any work. I guess it's good resistance work for me, but my fast bike isn't set up to use that coupler.

If you have ideas for that next step, I'd love to hear it. He was always too big for whatever tricycle we or his daycare put him on, so he always pushed them with his feet rather than using the pedals. I might just have to go back to the training wheels and then hope he hasn't forgotten how to balance.

Flatballer

Since this is my first, and I don't remember my own adventures at learning to ride, I don't know that I have any advice yet.

That is interesting though. The experts say to teach them how to balance and the pedaling is simple later, but apparently that's not always the case. If he's on a bike with pedals will he at least put his feet on them and balance and stuff like a coaster? If so, it might just be a case of having him keep riding that and eventually he'll want to go farther/faster and try out the pedals. But I dunno.

Laying on the coaster brake while coupled is pretty funny though, I'll give him that. Once you both fall over I assume it will get less funny.

caloso

I watched a bit on the Mexican channel. No pretense of partiality there. :-)

himespau 

Fortunately, he's only 45 lbs and doesn't press hard (so we haven't wiped out yet), but all the sudden it feels like I'm going up an invisible hill or the tires just got really flat, and I have to tell him to stop pressing back on the pedals - not looking forward to that the first time he tries it on a steep hill. At first when we went down 5-10% grades, he'd use it to slow us down, but now he just loves the speed and I have to use my brakes - I wouldn't if he wasn't on board, but I don't think his mom would be happy if she knew I got him up to 30, so we try to keep it reasonable.

When I'm just holding the seat and trying to push him to get him to get the feel for pedaling, he'll push forward or backwards about equally. I'm 6'3 with a bad-ish back, so I can't stoop over pushing him like that forever, so that's why we're doing the coupled bike. Like you said, I hope he decides to start pedaling on his own (up the steep grades would be nice). I like the followme setup because, theoretically, eventually, we can ride separately to the park or something, and then, when he's tired, I can couple the bikes and we can ride home with me doing most of the work. The easy on/off ability to couple mid-ride (plus connection at the hub rather than seatpost for lower center of gravity), are why I went with it instead of cheaper systems. We'll see if I ever use it that way, but I'm hoping that I can use it for use to take on vacation next year to do some family rides.

MDcatV

1- my son did the same thing, he has figured it out on his own, no training wheels needed. kick, glide, pedal, pedal, kick, glide, pedal, pedal, pedal, eventually kick, glide pedal, then just kick and pedal. just let it happen and it will.

2 - sounds like a future sprinter!

himespau 

"take a pull, son!!!"

topflightpro

I'm working with a sleep therapist to address my insomnia.

Step one is to restrict my sleep. I'm not allowed to go to bed or lie down in a bed until midnight. I want to go to sleep now though.

Ttoc6

Dammit. You stole my joke.

MDcatV

the MDcatV crew has watched most of the games, we watch a ton of soccer. it's interesting to watch wc as the quality of play is multiple notches below regular euro club play except for maybe the set pieces, but the tension is so, so high!

announcers, i actually like the spanish duo best, and Kate Abdo, not too shabby!

Kroos' goal for Germany, now that was world class. Die Mannschaft!

MDcatV

like!

Flatballer

I feel like the offense is worse, but the defending is more worse, which makes things more interesting.

The national teams can't keep a backline together to save their lives, someone is always 10 yards farther back. I feel like the top euro teams are always stepping up as a unit to draw an offside instead of getting beat by a pass.

MDcatV

so true i think that's why italian football, despite not having a legit goal scorer since I dont even know when remained successful until this go round. The national team's back line has been the Juve backline for a long time, is familiar with one another and well drilled. they just got old and could no longer keep up the physicality needed to win 1 nil over and over again.

that absence of continuity is super obvious on both sides of the midfield. in some cases it's painful, like with ARG and Messi, where no one knows how to play with him so they all stand around and watch him. if someone just watched this tourney, they'd wonder what all the fuss over Messi was, which is a shame, because he's a gift, but ARG has been unwatchably bad.

#bffootballtakover

furiousferret

One thing that gets vastly understated in the World Cup is Germany's huge advantage, which is the German team for years has always been Bayern Munich + a few dudes. That's not even counting the guys that went to that academy, or played there at some point.

I still don't know who to root for, just salty the US and Wales didn't make it. I have some Mexican relatives so maybe, but it also feels wrong rooting for a rival.

MDcatV

@furiousferret - generally agree historically, but certainly not for 2018

Flatballer

I have no qualms rooting for Mexico. They're fun to watch and they're probably more popular in the US than the US is.

I was also pulling for Iceland, but, ya know, that's probably going to end shortly. I'll switch up to follow England plus Mexico in the knockout probably. They're playing well and fun to watch.

ntnyln

Anyone in Asheville, NC? I'm trying to figure out my getaway this summer and I hear there is some great riding there.

topflightpro

I'm not in Asheville, but I can confirm there is great riding there.

kensuf

Crap, just about anything near the BRP is great. There's a place called Celo, near Burnsville, that has this funky little inn. The owner (Randy) is a cyclist and organizes a metric century in Burnsville every year. He can help you figure out routes, etc.

Welcome to the Celo Inn

kensuf

I'm also going to give a shout out to Banner Elk, NC. Cycling friendly town with lots of great riding in the area.

topflightpro

ntnyln

Thanks @kensuf and @topflightpro. I'm looking at a week and was thinking holding up in one place as a base camp, but now I'm thinking I might have to do a few nights in different places over the course of the week and explore the different scenes.