Something must be sinking in

07-19-2004, 05:12 PM

Two things to be proud about today:

1) So one of my little brother's buddies rode his bike over and
dropped by for a visit today. My brother decided to ride off with him
to his house to go see the new dog and hang out. As we were all
standing out on the driveway, I was giving the standard lecture on
traffic safety: Stay off the sidewalk, ride on the right, follow the
signs--"And act like an SUV...because if you do, they'll treat you
like one."

My brother's friend nodded tentatively. Lilbro gets on the bike, nods
to his friend and says "Don't worry about it. Follow my lead."

One more kid learns how to ride safely, and from another kid. Who'd
have thunk it?

2) Go back inside and have afternoon coffee with Mom & Dad. Look up,
see the clouds rolling in, and offer to ride over and fetch my brother
so we can be back before the storm rolls in. Ride on out, and hear my
brother call to me from the other side of the road. I make the
fastest legal U-Turn I can, and note with pleasure that he's riding
exactly where he should be in the lane (without my prompting!).

We roll up to a red light which turns green...and he shoots away from
the light like a bat out of hell. I didn't expect him to be so
fast--I chase after him. He makes 21 mph in the flat--not bad for a
14 year old kid on a 30 year old bike.

-Luigi