The Water Cooler, Scuttlebutt, Chit Chat Thread
#2826
out walking the earth
#2827
out walking the earth
#2828
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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you gotta fix your quote though & ty - while I'd happily say it when he was around after all the **** he talked about Billy and co... I never desired to really go down the rabbit hole. your judgement is better.
#2832
Senior Member
So my son is almost 7, still can't ride a bike, even with training wheels. I think there are a number of things at play related to his being born prematurely but he's also not super motivated and gets frustrated and gives up. He sees me on my trainer and I even set up a little platform to put his training wheels on to practice pedaling, but I'm wondering if I should try and set up a trainer for him to have some resistance and practice overcoming that inertia (I know kinetic has a small wheel attachment). He's getting too big for the trailer so I'm going try and pick up a bike attachment and maybe he can work on stuff that way, although I think he'll be happy just having me tow him. Needless to say I don't think I'm on my way to becoming this forum's next helicopter race parent lol
#2833
out walking the earth
My son never had much interest in riding on his own. He had a BMX bike, a track bike, a road bike. He liked the one that connected to my seatpost, and when he out grew that we got a tandem. There was something about being connected that kept him motivated.
#2834
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Balance bike? Not sure there are any big enough, but my son took to his like a duck to water. Now I have the task of trying to get him to figure out pedals, but he really wants to learn. I picked up a Follow-Me tandem attachment that allows you to attach a 16 or 20 inch wheeled bike to the back of an adult bike (lower center of gravity attachment than those seatpost dealies) that I'm going to try this summer.
I tried for a couple of years to get my daughter (just turned 7) to ride a bike with training wheels, she wanted them off in kindergarten, so I took them off, but then she couldn't balance and wouldn't ride. I got the 16 inch bike I'd bought a year or two too early for her brother last spring and took off the pedals to make a balance bike (he was still on his 12 inch balance bike), and she figured out the balancing of riding in a couple of weeks. Then one day when I wasn't paying attention, she just got on her own bike with pedals but no training wheels and took off riding it like it was no big deal. That was a 16 inch bike that was rapidly too small for her.
Since she had a 24" cycling inseam this winter, I skipped the 20" and got her a 24" bike for her 7th birthday. That was probably a mistake as she tries to mount it and stay on the saddle while having both feet down like she could with her too small 16" bike, can't and falls over a lot. That's lead to a lot of frustration and lack of desire to ride. I should have just gotten her a used 20" bike as an intermediate. I haven't bothered to tell her that her bike has gears or what that means yet. I just put it in the middle ring on the front at rear and let it be.
I tried for a couple of years to get my daughter (just turned 7) to ride a bike with training wheels, she wanted them off in kindergarten, so I took them off, but then she couldn't balance and wouldn't ride. I got the 16 inch bike I'd bought a year or two too early for her brother last spring and took off the pedals to make a balance bike (he was still on his 12 inch balance bike), and she figured out the balancing of riding in a couple of weeks. Then one day when I wasn't paying attention, she just got on her own bike with pedals but no training wheels and took off riding it like it was no big deal. That was a 16 inch bike that was rapidly too small for her.
Since she had a 24" cycling inseam this winter, I skipped the 20" and got her a 24" bike for her 7th birthday. That was probably a mistake as she tries to mount it and stay on the saddle while having both feet down like she could with her too small 16" bike, can't and falls over a lot. That's lead to a lot of frustration and lack of desire to ride. I should have just gotten her a used 20" bike as an intermediate. I haven't bothered to tell her that her bike has gears or what that means yet. I just put it in the middle ring on the front at rear and let it be.
#2836
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I got my kid a balance bike at age 2 (Strider brand) but he didn't have interest until about 2 years 9 months. Now he's 3 and loves riding it and he's getting pretty good. Hopefully he's on a 2 wheeler in a year, so we can get around easier and faster.
#2837
Senior Member
For a balance bike I removed the cranks off of a 12" wheel bike.
Junior doesn't really show any interest in riding, and I have no interest in pushing him to ride. The most he has ridden at one time was indoors at the bike shop when he test rode a 16" wheeled (training wheel) bike for about 20-25 minutes. That's basically half of his lifetime of cycling at this point, as he's ridden maybe an hour tops in total.
(I bought that 16" wheeled bike, first/only ride he rode it about 50 feet down the road, stopped, and said he was done. Hasn't ridden it since, nor has he wanted to even get on the thing.)
Junior doesn't really show any interest in riding, and I have no interest in pushing him to ride. The most he has ridden at one time was indoors at the bike shop when he test rode a 16" wheeled (training wheel) bike for about 20-25 minutes. That's basically half of his lifetime of cycling at this point, as he's ridden maybe an hour tops in total.
(I bought that 16" wheeled bike, first/only ride he rode it about 50 feet down the road, stopped, and said he was done. Hasn't ridden it since, nor has he wanted to even get on the thing.)
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"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
#2838
Cat 2
Does anyone have solar on their home? Looking at some places recently and one that interests me has panels on it. Just want to hear experiences and if you know anything about loans vs leases and what that entails for a buyer.
#2839
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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we have solarcity panels. we paid up front, maybe 8k. 2.5 years later we've recouped ~1200 only. Looks to be on track to pay off eventually. If laws were better and we could add more panels to pay back into the grid I would.
#2840
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So my son is almost 7, still can't ride a bike, even with training wheels. I think there are a number of things at play related to his being born prematurely but he's also not super motivated and gets frustrated and gives up. He sees me on my trainer and I even set up a little platform to put his training wheels on to practice pedaling, but I'm wondering if I should try and set up a trainer for him to have some resistance and practice overcoming that inertia (I know kinetic has a small wheel attachment). He's getting too big for the trailer so I'm going try and pick up a bike attachment and maybe he can work on stuff that way, although I think he'll be happy just having me tow him. Needless to say I don't think I'm on my way to becoming this forum's next helicopter race parent lol
he started with a strider bike, and it took him forever to actually stride on it. I think training wheels would have been a better option for him.
best practices, IMO:
when he wants to ride, ride with him. he probably wants to do something with you. just be careful to keep your distance, it sucks being taken out by your own kid (been there, done that, but it was my daughter)
let him dictate when and how much he wants to ride, don't push or give advice, just let things occur
#2841
Cat 2
#2842
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Same for my 3rd grade students. There's a time and place for everything. It's figuring out when and how much to push that takes a whole lot of experimenting. And even then there's still a whole lot of failing.
#2843
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I think I've mentioned that we recently moved into a new office building. Anyway, I've noticed that the little drain cap in the urinals turns. It's now become a game to see how much I can turn it every time I go to the bathroom.
#2844
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Ha. If that were the case, my 14 year old would do absolutely nothing.
Same for my 3rd grade students. There's a time and place for everything. It's figuring out when and how much to push that takes a whole lot of experimenting. And even then there's still a whole lot of failing.
Same for my 3rd grade students. There's a time and place for everything. It's figuring out when and how much to push that takes a whole lot of experimenting. And even then there's still a whole lot of failing.
#2845
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My youngest son is 16 and still spends hours each week on a bike (BMX or mountain). It helps that we have a BMX track about a mile from our house and great trails out our back door. He wasn't interested until he was about 10 years old and a bike became his mode of transport to his friends houses, and other activities. It was definitely an independence thing and not because his parents were into it! We never pushed our kids into cycling but when they asked, we did get them decent bikes, I think ****ty equipment could make a kid hate cycling. It's easy to find good used kid's bikes here.
#2846
Cat 2
You've reminded me of conversations I had with my Dad when I first got into road cycling. I was telling him about degreasing and doing this maintenance. And he was trying to tell me about how his old 10 speed he never did anything and it worked just fine. He got to say i told-ya-so when I over-did the whole maintenance thing and snapped my chain on a ride a few days later. Of course i had to call for a ride home.. But I stand by your belief that ****ty bikes turn kids (and people) away.
#2847
out walking the earth
#2848
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#2849
out walking the earth
already planned the end of my season and a trip to disney with the wife for our anniversary, otherwise I'd love to do this.