Back on the Road

While my grandparents briefly resided in NJ, my grandfather biked everywhere around town when he didn't have access to a car. He has been gone for more than two decades now. I thought about him a lot while working on the bike.

First order of business was taking everything apart and seeing what I had to work with. The wheels were the biggest task. Thankfully the rims were in great shape but the tires definitely needed to be replaced, the rubber was literally disintegrating as I removed the wheel from the bike. 

I was also expecting to replace both inner tubes as well but ended up only needing to buy one new. I didn't have any special tools like a tire lever so used my fingers to shove the new tires and inner tube back into the rims. My fingers ached afterwards...but it was so worth it. I still have to put on new handlebar grips but I was too excited and the weather this yesterday was too perfect.  

It was rather sentimental to put my grandfather's bike back on the road again. We did a few test rides both days this past weekend and it worked like a song. I will also be putting together a product review for T's new bike seat. We got so many compliments on it and I have thoughts to share as well. 

Roadworthy

It took a while but C has finally taken an interest in learning how to ride his bike in the past few weeks. 

The big thing nowadays is to start kids with something called balance or glide bike. Instead of using training wheels, the idea is that they first learn to balance and glide long before they graduate to a pedal bike and THEN being forced to figure out how to balance. 

If the weather is nice, we have been going out for walks around our neighborhood and local parks. First and foremost is teaching C how to safely cross the road, coming to full stop at every road intersection, looking both ways for cars, etc. When I was in 2nd grade, I had a classmate who was hit by a truck and didn't make it. That was nearly 30 years ago. 

While C rides his bike, I have been walking along and pushing T in a stroller or her push car. It works out for now, but my eventual goal is to get back to biking as well. 

Ever since my last bike got stolen while I was in college and living on campus (the locks got cut off, and we never found it), I haven't had it in my heart to get another bike.  But about 6-7 years ago, I joined a local cycling group and came very close to dipping my toes into mountain biking. During that time, I did a ton of research and learned about bikes, riding skills, maintenance, and gear, etc. I went shopping for a bike as well before life took a different turn. 

Trail biking has always been something I've wanted to get into though. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered that my dad still had my grandfather's old bike that he used to run short errands around town during the 4-5 years that him and my grandmother lived in NJ. When they moved to Canada and my grandfather passed away several years later from cancer, my dad held onto a few things from them, including that bike. 

I stopped by my parents' house the other day and my dad had it out waiting for me. 

It's a bit of a disaster right now. The wheels need to be replaced, and a few more things need to get worked on. But with some TLC, it'll be ready for the roads again.