The BMX race was launched today in the 2008 Olympics. It was surprising to see men and women compete for gold in the up and down dirt and gravel track. Most of them started riding their bikes in their early years (the winner in women's, if I can recall right, started riding a two-wheeler at the age of 5).
Well, Jakob has a different story. We were never outgoing before he started school at age 5 (well, we never had time and place to ride a bike downtown Toronto. I was always afraid that we might get hit by a car and end up in the hospital), so he was really not given a chance to start learning to ride his bike early. Then we moved to Ajax...and PTL we have child-friendly streets to practice biking but then Jakob was not too interested. He was too lazy to pedal, never had the confidence (maybe because he was still on training wheels even at school age while his friends are on big two-wheeler bikes). So I guess he was more embarrased than lazy. But when school ended this year, he was determined to learn to ride his bike even with training wheels. His spiderman bike is a bit too high for him so I bought him a smaller one just for practice. We started with 4 wheels (that took a while), then three wheels for maybe a week (plus few falls, a couple of scratches and a bruise or two), and now just two. Wooohooo! I am as excited as he is. He loves the feeling that he can go fast without having to fall. He likes riding it even for just 2 minutes while I unload his brother and sister from the car. And I love to see the smile on his face knowing that he made an accomplishment. I told him that he can tell his Grade 3 class that this Summer..."I learned to ride my bike!" Maybe he'll see smiles or hear giggles from his classmates but who knows, he might end up in Olympics one day. :D
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