Sunday, April 22, 2012

Trick bikes, meditation, and health

Christopher (six years old) sounds out words as he walks around the house these days, and today he was up first.  I was still in bed while he ate cereal.  He'd asked me to help him swap the wheels out on the 3-inch-long die cast trick bike we bought yesterday at the dollar store (it comes with tiny tools and interchangeable parts....I've wanted one since they came out....can't really explain why).

At about the right time for him to have finished his cereal, I heard the following as he rounded the corner into my room.

"Nec-e-s-ary.....necessary, necessary......necessary.....is it necessary to be in bed?  We need to work on this."

Then he started to show me how to ride the bike with his fingers.  I tried to show him different things I'd seen trick riders do, but I didn't think he had a good frame of reference.  So we found this video on you-tube (which we then had to watch on the dvr that gets youtube, it was so good).

He said, "Mom, I know why you picked this one.  It's got nature AND the tricks you wanted me to see."



So, the meditation part is obvious, as far as the clip goes.  But there are also certain tricks that would have been good for my brain if I had learned how to do them, even just bunny hops (don't know if that's the right term).  Before seeing a trick riding competition at a campground near Bellingham, Wa, in the 90's, I had this pent up energy sometimes walking from place to place and I'd be struck by an overwhelming urge to walk on my hands (which I never learned to do).  When I saw the trick competition, I was commuting everywhere by bike, and the hand-walking urge was replaced by a jump-around-and-off-of-things-on-my-back-tire urge (which I also never learned to do).  I think I could bounce a little when I got v-breaks, but even that was pretty weak.

Had I learned, though, I know it would have been meditative.

As for the health component, like everything else I see that I'm inspired by that involves something physical I can't do, it makes me have to check that urge that says I can push through the limiting parts of this illness, which is just plain backwards for my disease.

Which points to patience, and makes me grateful that people take the time to do and to make stuff like this.

This next clip just happens to be the second youtube video that pops up if you search "trick bikes" but it was pretty amazing.  During this clip, Christopher's comments included the following:

"He doesn't even have pegs.  That makes him double trick."

"Oh my trick-face!"


I think I'd go out and bounce around today, but I lack the ability to fix my flat tire.  Our bike pumps don't work, and last weekend I found a little air compressor in the garage that works, but the little valve converter I kept track of for 15 years is suddenly gone (presta to schrader so I can use a real-life pump).  It was in my jewelry box for 15 years and now its gone.


If you're healthy, you should go ride your bike.  If you're not, you should buy a 3 inch trick bike.

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