I had my doubts he would be excited so I sort of prepared myself for it, but the reaction was great. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of watching the "Delaware game," so he was in a bit of a rush. I sort of presented it as needing help getting stuff outta the car. Between the luggage, my wife's bike, and my bike, he failed to notice the nice, matte-black Panther with the red bow on the seat.

When he came out, I said, "Happy birthday, Dad!" His response was, "C'mon, hurry up, the end of the Delaware game's on!" Then I had to say it again and that's when he noticed the bike. He said, "OOOOH, WOW!" He got this real wide grin on his face and said, "I'll be out right after the game's over!" A few minutes later the game was over, he hopped on, and was off to the races around the block! Rachel (my wife) said, "Ummm, you better go get after him, cuz I don't think he's comin' back!" I ran inside, grabbed my coat, and sprinted down the road after him when I found him around the block. Everyone was asking about his bike and just kinda laughed about it. He was talking about how his birthday was today and people were asking him what he got. He said, "I GOT A BIKE!" He just kinda smiled as he proudly showed it off.

So, I think he's really excited about the bike. We messed around with the seat and handlebars a bit as he felt like he had some strain in his upper shoulder and his triceps. After making a few adjustments he was good to go. While Mom isn't overly thrilled about it, she's not tripping out over it either. Dad has a buddy who's really into biking so I'm sure the bike will come up in conversation the next time they talk. I had my doubts how excited he'd be so I felt it was necessary for BOTH, my wife and I to ride with him. I figured if he had a FEW people to ride with he'd be a bit more into it and feel like he was more involved in something, which I think worked.

Strava results weren't great today as we traveled no more than about 1.6 miles at 4.4 mph but that's okay, as he hasn't been on a bike in nearly 30 years. After riding with him I took my five year old niece out and we did almost a mile. While it wasn't the highest calorie-burning ride ever, it wasn't really about that, but more about fun. I guess after we get home we'll have to get back to some quicker rides and get back into the swing of things.