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I have to tell you, I have the coolest niece in the states! I have three, actually, and they're all into different things. The oldest likes riding her bike, the next one likes car racing and skate boards, and the third, well she's still figuring things out (she's 4).
As a birthday present for the oldest, I ran down a verbal listing of great things kids might want from the usual kid-trap stores and she kept shooting me down. So, somewhat bewildered, I just said, "Well, I'll just take you mtn biking!" Her face lit up and I saw that I had nailed it. Now, she's 10 and has never been riding with me -- just around the neighborhood. She has a little 24" Schwinn with Grip Shift and front "suspension".
There's no place near where either of us live that are primo to take her but I knew there are some good options near my parent's house where we'd all be for Thanksgiving. Yesterday morning we grabbed the bikes and went out for breakfast while my sister (her mom) and my mom went to fight Black Friday shopping. After breakfast, we stopped by the LBS and I bought her some full fingered gloves -- after all, you can't go mtn biking without them -- then it was off to the trail.
The trail we decided on is a 5 mile loop with some techincal sections but nothing that a beginner -- or 10 yo -- cannot handle. We started with a pine stand section that is relatively flat with some nice little rollers and she was loving it. We hit a little climb then the descent and she was giggling and excited! We rode for 25 minutes then took a little break. She advised that she wanted to ride more and some more challenging stuff at that. So we set off for the trailhead and ended up riding the whole loop. She rode smartly, stopping to walk those sections she felt uncomfortable with and riding the downhills
Each DH she rode she would hollar a little louder and was laughing at the bottom of it! Of course, her reaction to this put a huge smile on my face too.
At one point she noted, "It feels like I'm on a roller coaster but I'm the engine!" When I asked her at lunch what she liked the most, her response was "the downhills!" Maybe for Christmas I'll get her a mtn bike video or three and start training another young rider. She liked the idea of making money by riding a bike! (dont' we all?)
Even though I like the enduro stuff, the hour spent my niece was great. I can't wait to do it again!
As a birthday present for the oldest, I ran down a verbal listing of great things kids might want from the usual kid-trap stores and she kept shooting me down. So, somewhat bewildered, I just said, "Well, I'll just take you mtn biking!" Her face lit up and I saw that I had nailed it. Now, she's 10 and has never been riding with me -- just around the neighborhood. She has a little 24" Schwinn with Grip Shift and front "suspension".
There's no place near where either of us live that are primo to take her but I knew there are some good options near my parent's house where we'd all be for Thanksgiving. Yesterday morning we grabbed the bikes and went out for breakfast while my sister (her mom) and my mom went to fight Black Friday shopping. After breakfast, we stopped by the LBS and I bought her some full fingered gloves -- after all, you can't go mtn biking without them -- then it was off to the trail.
The trail we decided on is a 5 mile loop with some techincal sections but nothing that a beginner -- or 10 yo -- cannot handle. We started with a pine stand section that is relatively flat with some nice little rollers and she was loving it. We hit a little climb then the descent and she was giggling and excited! We rode for 25 minutes then took a little break. She advised that she wanted to ride more and some more challenging stuff at that. So we set off for the trailhead and ended up riding the whole loop. She rode smartly, stopping to walk those sections she felt uncomfortable with and riding the downhills
Each DH she rode she would hollar a little louder and was laughing at the bottom of it! Of course, her reaction to this put a huge smile on my face too. At one point she noted, "It feels like I'm on a roller coaster but I'm the engine!" When I asked her at lunch what she liked the most, her response was "the downhills!" Maybe for Christmas I'll get her a mtn bike video or three and start training another young rider. She liked the idea of making money by riding a bike! (dont' we all?)
Even though I like the enduro stuff, the hour spent my niece was great. I can't wait to do it again!
