orangeology

this winter in nyc area sucks polar bears' balls. really...
(except Tom's beautiful photo of nyc yesterday above)

WNG

It's going to reach 86F by Friday here! It's actually too warm here, and having a drought.


Saguaro Trail 2-058 by WNG555, on Flickr

Sixty Fiver

@WNG

110 degrees colder here...

RALEIGH_COMP 

New bike added to the stable:



Now all she wants to do is to ride ride ride! which means i have to run run run! lol

ColonelJLloyd 

Red is the fastest color. Purple is the cutest color.

WNG

Saguaro Trail 2-037 by WNG555, on Flickr

Sixty Fiver

I have an offer to use my brother's place in Arizona... might have to take him up on it.

Italuminium

Beautiful. Ah, to ride there one day.

WNG

^ Hard to believe this is 5 miles from my door...in a congested urban/suburban environment. I just wish I had a more appropriate mtb to explore it.

noglider 

Raleigh Comp, that's a lovely picture. I realize your daughter is only 3 or 4 years old, but I strongly suggest removing the training wheels. You'll be surprised. -holiday76 did that for his son upon my recommendation. Son was less than 4. He took off with aplomb. I saw it on video and was amazed. Not every kid does as well, but I teach riding lessons, and I start with balance and move to pedaling second. Training wheels force the opposite order.

seedsbelize 

Beautiful setup^^. I have an 84 traveler frameset hanging here, with a similar idea in mind. Do you weigh the dishes going in, or coming out?

RALEIGH_COMP 

I definitely was thinking about that, or at least raising them up more. I was just the typical concerned parent and wanted her to be "safer." So should i like try it on the grass first, or get her elbow and knee pads, i did a little running along side her when we first brought it home, but it wasnt going too smoothly. oh yeah and thanks for the advice too, I still consider myself pretty noobish s in so many things biking related...

noglider 

I've taught lots of people to ride, from age 5 through 40-something. (Age 14 is the hardest.)

Running alongside is futile and worse. You can't keep up if she's going fast enough to balance. Tell her to go, and watch. Don't let her think you can save her if she falls.

Sometimes I teach "practice falling" on the grass. Stand up without a bike, and fall down deliberately. This can help to shake the fear of falling.

Raising the training wheels doesn't help at all. Steering and balancing and leaning go together, and training wheels prevent leaning.

Elbow and knee pads are there more to make her feel safe than to prevent injuries, though they don't hurt, unless they impede motion. If she's scared, you could give her pads. If she's gung ho, encourage her to charge forth first and worry about injuries later.

Start with a slight slope to help her get some speed. Maybe there's a street or parking lot or grassy area with a slope. Go downhill.

The basic technique: Lower the saddle so she can put two feet on the ground flat. Remove the pedals. Hobby-horse along, pushing forward with feet on the ground. Pedaling comes later, after the balancing and turning is good. Demonstrate this for her, riding her bike or yours. Yes, her bike is tiny, but I can do it. Maybe you can, too. Ride in a zigzag pattern to show her the turning and leaning thing. Scream with glee to show her the attitude.

RALEIGH_COMP 

So basically just go for it, and don't sweat any bumps or bruises she will most likely end up with anyway. I'm more scared for her than she is scared that's for sure. she kinda has to tip toe with the seat all the way down to touch the ground when seated. she can standover the bike fine, but the seat is just a tad tall. I will try taking the cranks off to make a sort of balance bike, but i foresee her getting upset at me for doing that lol.

and she has taken a few spills on her tricycle already, so she knows how to "dust it off Aubrey!"

cobrabyte

noglider 

Raleigh comp, yeah, balance bike. Don't let your fear show. Pretend you're brave and badass.

obrentharris 

Cobrabyte,
Another great image!
I always enjoy your photos.
Brent

cooperryder

Nice 'action' photo.

If that is a Soma bottle, I have one like it. Decent bottle so for & looks good to my eye.

On the photo, I occasionally try something similar but learned the hard way to scan ahead for potential
pot holes or obstacles before going one handed. Once I wasn't paying attention and hit a parking lot speed bump one handed and 'hello pavement'.

rootboy 

Splendid pic, Tom.

rootboy 

Oh man. I lived in Phoenix for a short spell. Finishing high school. And I could walk for 3 minutes out the back door of my parent's place and be in terrain that looked like that. I sure don't miss Phoenix. But I sometimes miss the desert. Nice pics, WNG.

noglider 

Thanks. It's my lovely new neighborhood.

I think just about every pic in this thread is splendid. I consider myself a pretty bad photographer, and the cameras I use certainly don't help, either. Lately, I'm using my iPhone 4 almost exclusively, just because it's handy. This picture was a lucky accident. They happen to me sometimes.

cobrabyte

^thanks guys

Tom, that's how I approach photography. It's a numbers game, take enough pics and you're bound to end up with a few good ones
your new neighborhood looks awesome btw

The Golden Boy 

Picturing John and Yoko strolling along...

noglider 

They were on the upper west side, where I grew up. There's an area near The Dakota (the building where they lived) in Central Park called Strawberry Fields. I think Yoko had it named for him. He was killed in front of his building.

ascherer 

If I'm not mistaken, before the Dakota they lived on Bank Street.