Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Riding a Bike...

When I was a kid, bike riding was really fun - and safe. No gears, no helmets, no special tires or peddles. SAFE.

Adam is 15 and very athletic. He's a good boy. Spoiled, but a good boy. He and several of his friends have taken up roadbiking. At first I thought, "Well how nice is that?" Out riding bikes, nice and slow, looking at the scenery, maybe stopping every once in a while to watch a coyote or deer. Peaceful - and SAFE.



I should have known better.

Adam has never been one that was safe. Every sport he gets into has to be aggressive and dangerous. Aggressive roller blading, aggressive skiing, and now - God help me! - aggressive biking. He's got those shoes with doohickies on the bottom that "clip" into the special pedals we put on his bike. Now really, how safe is that to have your shoes semi-permanently attached to your bike? That's just danger waiting to happen.

Yesterday, he and his friend Jake went on two bike rides - "17 miles", he proudly told me, "in 23 minutes". Of course, up here, it's all up and down hills. Then he proceeded to tell me how they got going 50 miles an hour down one of the hills. (He has a speedometer and odometer on his bike.)

"Well you better just be careful! You know that ALL it takes is one tiny rock and BAM! down you go! If you hit the pavement going that fast, it's gonna scrape every bit of hide off your body! Now do you really want to be one big scab?! You better slow down or you're really gonna hurt yourself!"

I was practically hysterical picturing what could happen to my son at 50 miles an hour...

"Mom! Stop it! You're not supposed to be telling me stuff like that! What if I decide to start racing? I don't need to be worried about stuff like that happening, I need to be worried about winning."

Well, I wonder if they make bike suits out of bubble wrap. Maybe I need to invent one.


I'm off to Reno with mom for a few days for my birthday. Hopefully when I get back, my son will still be recongnizable. I'm very worried...

8 comments:

tallulah said...

Happy Birthday Jodi! Win a nice big-ol jackpot and eat tons of good food!

Dee said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JODI !!!!!!!!!!

As for Adam, it IS better sometimes for parents not to know everything a kid does. I believed all of you were such good kids, but now often hear what you all REALLY did. But, somehow , there was not a broken bone in the bunch.

Bubble wrap would be more comfortable than body armor.

kate said...

Let the kid get his ya-ya's out; better to get his adrenalin rush the "healthy" way, ya know?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!!! I love you!

Jodi said...

T, I hope to bring home the big one!

Thanks for the birthday wishes girls!

Fancy Schmancy said...

Happy birthday!

I wish my son would get out and do something, even if it was dangerous. At least he'd be away from his computer for a few minutes. My kid is one of the laziest people I've ever met!

Jodi said...

Thanks Fancy! I know what you mean about your son, mine spends 75% of his time playing World of Warcraft. I'm happy that he gets out on his bike, just wish it wasn't so scary - for me!

Candice said...

GAH! This is the stuff I have to look forward to??

Bubble wrap body suit, eh? Perhaps in yellow so he can channel Lance Armstrong. ;)

Jodi said...

Ha! Yes, Candice, I could make him look like a giant bananna! One of the joys of being a parent - being able to embarass your kids!