The joys of a new bike

Sunday night I took my thirteen-year-old son to the store to buy him a new bike. It’s spring and he plays on a baseball league at a nearby park and so it’s “bike season.” The problem is, he had outgrown his bicycle. It was three or four years old and much too small for him. At his age, boys grow a lot, and quickly.

I am a full-grown adult and yet the experience of picking out a new bike took me back to my childhood. The excitement over the gleaming wheels, the smell of the new materials, and the squeak of the wheels on the floor as the bike was “test driven” in the store… Look out! I think I enjoyed the experience nearly as much as my son did. And, he REALLY enjoyed it. He was so excited when he found out why we were driving to the store and could hardly sit still during the short trip. Once there, he zipped into the store and went right to the bikes; his eyes were big, a grin covered his entire face.

Within a few minutes he decided on the bike he wanted. We took it down off the rack and he rode it up one aisle and down another. I had to intervene and suspend his in-store driving privileges or he would have continued much longer. After a brief stop to pick up a couple of accessories, like a new bike safety helmet, we paid for the bike and headed out of the store. I offered to let him ride around the parking lot, but he declined. He just wanted to get home so he could try out his new wheels.

Once home, my son road his new bike up and down the street several times before asking to ride the approximately half mile to the park. I quickly told him I thought it was a good idea and he then shot off down the road and around the corner.

Now, two days later, he has been to the park and back almost a dozen times. I think that part of the allure of a bike at his age is the sense of freedom that comes with the means of transportation. Granted, it’s not necessarily fast and the range of a bike is limited when compared to an automobile. But, it’s far better than walking and you get to your destination so much quicker. And, in my son’s opinion, he arrives in style because his bike is way cool (shock absorbers, both front and back wheels, knobby tires, 17 speeds, the works).

It was nice to bring so much joy into my son’s day and at the same time relive the feelings of my own childhood when my parents told me it was time to replace my old bike.