To be a child again

At some point in my life I need to learn that I am not a child again - when that happens who knows but it will happen.

The other day Eoin came to the house with a problem with his bike - upon further inspection he blew out his back tire and inner tube. If I remember correctly he got this bike last year and has not treated it with the greatest of care. That's kind of impossible especially when every child in the neighborhood shares bikes.

Di and I talked it over and determined that the bike he currently has is just too small for him - I have the seat up all the way and watching him ride it I can tell he has outgrown this bike. We decided to get him a new bike - this is part of his birthday present although he really does not know that yet.

We went to Costco and they had a good bike but it was just not the right fit - it seemed like he was stretching to reach the handle bars and pedals. We decided to go to Walmart and see what they had. Walmart had one similar to the one at Costco and although you could adjust the handle bars I just didn't like it.

While still looking at the bikes we found a different one - a little more expensive but still cheaper than the Costco bike. We had him ride it and it seemed like a good fit for him. Being the concerned parent that I am I had to try the bike out myself to make sure it would be good for him. This is a 20' bike and I am 5'8". This is a bike designed for a child so when I sat on it I could ride it but it was not very easy to ride.

We decided to purchase the bike for Eoin and brought it home for him. Either that day or the next he was outside riding his new bike, the old one will be repaired and given to Liam, and I decided to take it for another spin. I was able to ride it pretty well and almost beat someone in a race (I had to take the long route so I lost).

After the race I decided to try something I have not done in years - I tried a wheelie. I was semi successful on the first one and Eoin said to do it again. Let's see the smart thing would have been not to do it. Lets say that I am not that smart.

I tried another wheelie and as I started to lift the front wheel my right knee must have decided I was too old to be performing these stunts. I must have popped my knee out and when that happened it hurt so bad that I had to control myself falling while protecting the new bike.

Needless to say I was able to prevent the bike from getting damaged but walking was another story. Now my right knee hurts so bad that sometimes I can barely walk and sleeping is difficult at best. From what I can tell my knee is getting better but it is going to take a lot of time to heal.

The question remains that when my knee gets better if I will have learned my lesson and to ride bicycles that are made for adults or will I ride Eoins bike again?

Only time will tell.