David got a bike for his birthday. It was a big hit! Nothing has ever held his attention for so long! (Well, except for pbskids.org.) He took it for a spin on a nearby bike trail, and he was a pro in no time. He likes to, as he says, "pedal my feet."
For weeks we have been dragging him to stores to test ride bikes (which had the effect of creating in him an intense desire to have a bike of his own--birthday wishes can come true!). Last weekend we visited a friendly local bike store, where the salesman helped us figure out what size bike David really needs (wow, we had been wrong) AND put in David's parents an intense desire for their son to own a brand new Trek. Luckily, within a few days we came to our senses: 3-year-olds do not need brand new Treks! We did, however, scour craigslist for a 16" not-so-brand-new Trek (or something comparable), to no avail. That's okay. Three-year-olds can get their bikes at Wal-mart (or Meijer, in this case).
I was hoping for a Huffy. Geroge Huffman started a bike company here in Dayton in the 1880s. For many years the bikes were sold as "Dayton" brand bikes. (It's hard to believe that having anything with "Dayton" on it would be desirable, but at the turn of the century Dayton was a happening place when it came to new technologies. It was the Silicon Valley of its day.) It wasn't until the 1950s that the brand name became Huffy. By the way, we learned all this at the old Wright Brothers bicycle store. I figured, if we're going to be buying a less-than-stellar bike, it might as well have an interesting history, and since we live in Dayton, I thought it would be cool if we got a Huffy. But I was even more determined to buy a bike without Dora, Thomas, or Spiderman plastered all over it. Apparently, you can't buy a plain Huffy anymore. So we bought him a cute blue Kent.
No, it's not a Huffy, but I think the Kent has good karma. My brother Andy's first bike was a little silver Kent. I think the Kent bodes well for David's biking future because (1) Andy competed in the Bear Mountain Endurance Mountain Bike Race--whoever can go the farthest in 12 hours wins--and won, (2) Andy bought his then-fiance an engagement mountain bike, as well as the traditional engagement ring, and (3) Andy is so bike-cool that he no longer finds it necessary to have gears.
David, may you have a bright future of pedaling your feet, with or without gears.
[Now that I think about it, the little silver Kent might have belonged to my brother Dave instead. Does this mean David is destined to be a Spanish-speaking, Moby Dick-reading, Simpsons-loving Marine?]
