spacemanz

I went for a pretty long ride yesterday, including a ride through Magnuson Park, which is actually about 3 miles from my house, I just learned. I'm a terrible judge of distances. Anyways, I was riding along what's essentially a paved road, but also in a park, with lots of bike traffic, so pretty safe. I passed 3 young kids going the other way, & the youngest, in the rear, who was probably around 4 or 5, give or take, just lit up when he saw my bike. Probably because it's fully chromed, I guess. He stopped & said, "Hey, I have a bike just like that, only a little smaller". I pretty much had to stop, & say something back, so I said, "Yeah, & yours is a good bike too. Just keep riding, & you'll get bigger & stronger". So he stood up on the pedals, to catch up with his bigger brothers or friends. It was just a weird random little meeting of total strangers, that was too cool for words.

rootboy 

David Newton

I really love outgoing kids!

Grillparzer

Every once in a while things like that happen. I was stopped at an intersection and the guy in the car in front stuck his iPod out the window and started waving it around while it played. It took me a minute to recognize that he was playing Queen's Bicycle Race for my benefit.

auchencrow

Spacemanz - Your chance meeting just may have been the inspiration for a future Merckx.

CroMo Mike 

We have some early-teen age boys in our neighborhood who do skateboards. Although they ride tricks, they also seem to use them for transportation. One day as I was riding along and approaching a side street entering from my right, I could hear the sound of small wheels. Here they came, zooming down a steep hill and making the right turn in from the side street, helmets, kneepads, skateboards. Two merged in front of me, one behind me, going as fast as I was, grinning the whole way. A simple smile and the comment "cool stuff" and all was well. Another day, I passed them going up hill and one commented "man, you're fast on that bike." My response: "thanks!" A little respect goes a long way with kids.

Lascauxcaveman 

I love kids going out on bikes.

And I loved going out on a bike when I was a kid.

(I guess I'm still a kid.)

spacemanz

Yep, kids are a trip. Any intelligent adult should be able to learn from kids. If nothing else, by just being reminded of some of life's simplest lessons. And I bet some young kids are smarter than a lot of adults, LOL.

Pompiere

A couple years ago, my son's scout troop decided to go skiing. I hadn't skied in several years, but it didn't take long to get my legs back. None of the boys had skied before, but after a few trips down the bunny hill they decided they were ready for the big hills. None of the other adults had skied much before, so I went with them to make sure they didn't get in trouble. At the end of the day, they were pretty impressed at what an old guy can do. That was one of my most memorable ski trips, even though it was at a small hill in Ohio.

rootboy 

Quote of the week.

Brannigan

Well said!