Every fall / winter for the last few years a local branch of Tokio sponsors these kids’ bike races (officially called the “Tokio Youth Mountain Bike Series” that take place in the Arboretum. The kids are split up into age groups for some racing around a simple grass track, and the older the kids the more laps they have to do (often it’s the same number of laps as their age). There is also a little obstacle course at the side of the track that the kids enjoy as well.
Josh and Ryley always look forward to these events, they have a lot of fun.
Josh started out the season on his little red 16″ bike from last year, he’s really good at riding but was finding that he was struggling a bit to keep up with the other six year olds on their bigger 20″ bikes. He got a little frustrated by the end of the day.
Ryley was just fine, though – zipping around on her balance bike!
So, Christmas came and went and we didn’t really think much of getting him a new bike as a gift for some reason. When we realized after Christmas that the next race was coming up on January 4th we quickly remembered his frustration the last go round so after a little research and checking around we found this cool looking bike at a shop called “Social Cycles”. (Yes, a spoiled boy he is!) There were no red ones but Josh didn’t mind, it’s got gears (6-speed) and two hand brakes so it’s really a ‘big boy bike’.
I had set up the bike in Jenn’s trainer to make it easier to check over (the bike came ‘as is’ from the rack in the shop so I had to make sure all the bolts were tight, etc.), and of course Josh wanted to give it a go while it was set up. So after some training in the garage and around the yard we were ready for the next race!
I think Ryley’s favorite part of race day is the free snacks provided…!
As hoped, Josh loved his new bike and was able to nearly keep up with his buddies Ethan and Rylan (they are super fast)! No more frustration, though, just good times on the bigger wheels!
