This year Tom decided that he wanted a bike, so while we were in Gib we went to the bike shop and found a cool silver number with six gears and a decidedly rugged look. Tom seemed more than satisfied.
This morning (I'm going to write it as though I'm not several weeks late in making the entry), we wheeled the thing into the living room and presented it to him. He was chuffed.
I think I should mention that he was also delighted with ALL the presents he received despite the fact that his parents did not go to the effort of thanking everyone. Please accept this as an apology and a blanket thanks to you all. Sorry.
Anyway, back to Tom.
We had breakfast, and then after preparing him for the possible disappointment of not managing to ride without stabilizers immediately, we headed out to the hill behind the house to give the new bike a try.
Tom was riding on his own 3 minutes later. Yes, I gave him two pushes and on the third I just let go. It seems he's a natural.
Later we went to the park and he continued in the same vein. He was in sixth gear and smirking before too long. OK, there were a couple of headlong crashes into the fencing and a few stationary falls (I'd forgotten how easy it was to do that, but when your only just reaching the floor....), but by and large he seems to have got the hang of it without any difficulty. Cool.
This picture shows Tom on his new "proper" bike. That's his old bike on the edge of the frame. Looks a bit silly doesn't it? Don't tell Ollie.
Trying to take picture of Tom riding was a lesson in that fact that focusing a camera on a moving target is REALLY hard. Here's a photo of him on the move. It's not great but at least it is in focus.
He also got a pair of inline skates for his birthday, with helmet and pads thankfully. I don't have any pictures just yet.
It was a bit of an unconventional birthday this year. He didn't have a birthday cake (poor thing). I've just been trying to remember with Bi, but there was a candle to blow out. I think it was lodged in a plate of potato salad or something. Anyway, famous bike riders don't eat cake. Which brings me to another thing. While Tom was showing off to me in the park we were talking about how he would become a famous rider (on account of him being really good at it) and Tom decided that in fact there was a down side to being famous. Apparently it is that when you have to go home because it's tea-time "all the people will get sad and cry" because they want to keep watching your amazing bike skills. And those are his words.....
Writing this reminds me that I must give him a a big hug when he gets home......shucks.
Nick
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