My Three-year-old son Regan is becoming quite the little rider.
I was hopeful that he would get off his run bike and be pedalling on his own before he turned three, and he managed that task a month before his third birthday.
Ten months later and he is obsessed with riding. He now rides the backyard pump track as long as we’ll let him stay out there. He rides to daycare and if there is not at least one ride each weekend, he has a bit of a temper tantrum. He comes by that last part honestly.
Last week he was at Swicked riding laps around the store. He was weaving in and out of bikes, standing up and practicing hard cornering and pedalling as fast as he could without knocking over all the bikes.
One of our customers asked me why Regan wasn’t in school. I told him that Regan was only three, and the look of surprise was a proud moment for Dad. Yep that’s right, he rides like a big kid, and me being me, that puts Doogie Howser and his medical degree to shame.
As the customer was leaving and I was thinking that my day couldn’t get any better, Regan asked, “Hey Dad, can we use the wood out back to build a jump?”
I kind of blacked out at that point due to the excitement. I don’t remember what I was doing, or if there were any customers in the store. I dropped everything, ran out back, and started piling up 2x4’s and the Swicked sandwich board. A few minutes later we had a really crappy jump. Just like we built when I was a kid.
After a couple sketchy attempts, Regan was zooming back and forth and loving it. Soon Rhyley joined in, and me and Jon were taking turns too.
I’m not sure who was running the shop at that point, but hey, it’s a lifestyle industry, who would ever expect us to pass up an opportunity like this?
I was thinking I would be faster than Regan until he was 10 or 12, but now I’m just hoping for another year or two before I’m too slow for him.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…