The Taming of the Bike

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Summer has been the Taming of the Bike.  Carson received this awesome little bike from Aunt Inis this summer on our way home from Seattle. 

We had heard that the latest trend in bike training is the "balance bike".  (And you know how we are about keeping up on trends...)  It seemed like a great idea, but we figured that instead of buying a separate pedal-less bike, we could just transform this one.  So we took it to a local bike shop and asked them to remove the training wheels and pedals.  Then we brought it home and lowered the seat so his feet could reach the ground.

For the next few days, Austin would take Carson down to the church parking lot and coast back and forth with him for about a half an hour.  By the end of the week, Carson was a champ--coasting, turning, stopping, wiggling his handlebars as he rode.  It was really amazing.

After about a month of riding the balance bike, Austin really felt like it was time to graduate to the real thing.  So off we went, back to Mad Dog Cycles, to get the pedals reinstalled.  When we got home, Austin got back to work with Carson.  And before I knew it, they called me outside to see this:

The kid is only 3 1/2!  And he LOVES to ride his bike.  I think it was that very same day that we took a 3-mile family bike ride up Provo Canyon.  He rode the whole way without any complaints.  And he still wants to ride it most days, although the few times I've let him, he comes right back in because it's too darn cold.