The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1029 by Angharad Copyright © 2010 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

In fact, I spent far more than just the cost of the bike–I decided I’d teach him to use clipless pedals, the Shimano SPD system, so we had to get a pair of shoes and then some shorts, so I went the whole hog and bought him a shirt as well.

Because he’s not very big, and the shop didn’t carry any children’s kit–there’s a surprise, I found a small women’s size shorts and top, and the shoes were too. Now before I’m accused of turning one of my kids into a transvestite, it was only the labels which gave the game away and they could be lost quite easily.

He already had a helmet and I had a pair of mitts which would probably fit him–some cheapo ones I’d bought ages ago which were actually too small for my hands–which are quite small. They’d also go quite well with the rest of the kit, which was all turquoise, grey and black. The shoes were grey and if I remembered correctly; the mitts were light blue and grey.

We got home to find that Simon was playing football with Danny and the girls, while Tom and Leon were doing gardening. This mean the coast was clear to sneak the kit in and put the bike in the garage with the rest of them.

After speaking with the others and making some tea for myself–Simon came in for one as well and the kids came for a cold drink, which I duly dispensed. “Did you sort out returning the car?” I asked him.

“Can you see it?” he asked almost snottily.

I looked down the drive, “No–have they taken it already?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know–but I’ll accept it looks like it.”

“You don’t think I’ve hidden it round the corner in case you decide you like it tomorrow, do you?”

“No, Simon, I don’t. I don’t want any bad feeling over this either.”

“Excuse me; but it doesn’t work like that. I pulled all sorts of strings to get you that car–that’s senior manager or even director level.”

“I appreciate you thought it was a treat, but it wasn’t. I need something bigger and less fast.”

“I see so you bought a new bike?”

“No, I got that for Billy, he wants to try road riding, possibly to do some racing when he’s a bit older.”

“So what are you going to use? The last I heard you were going to buy a new car?”

“I’m borrowing, Daddy’s Mondeo, for the moment.”

“So that’s why you were up early, conniving with Tom?”

“No, I had to take Julie to work and I wanted to get some new tyres for Billy’s old bike, then we saw that one and he tried it.”

“I see, so you’re favouring one over the others?”

“Not really, I supported Danny playing football; I’ve got the girls all sorts of things over the past few months, including school uniforms. This time I’ve given Billy a chance to become an individual and try something different.”

“Which you just happen to be very good at?”

“Come off it, Si, I’ve hardly ridden for months.”

“But it is your sport?”

“Yes, what’s that got to do with it?”

“You were just waiting for one of them to show the slightest sign weren’t you?”

“Slightest sign of what?”

“Being a cyclist.”

“Not particularly, but nothing I say is going to convince you otherwise, so I’m not even going to respond to it. Will you collect Julie from the salon after half past four?”

He glowered but agreed, “What are you going to be doing?”

“Possibly still out with Billy or getting dinner started, why?”

“If you’re out with Billy, and I’m collecting Julie, who’s going to look after the girls and Danny?”

“If necessary I’ll ask Leon, but I suspect Daddy will, or even Stella.”

He sighed, his bid for the moral high ground had failed.

“Excuse me, I have to fit some new pedals.” I pushed past him and went to the garage. It didn’t take long, and I have several pedal spanners, which made it easier. Billy came out to see what I was doing to his bike. I sent him in to put on his new cycling shoes and we measured them up, marked them and fitted the cleats.

For the uninitiated, cleats are small metal plates which fit to the soles of cycling shoes which are quite hard. The cleats fit into the pedals which have a tightening mechanism, so they can be adjusted for optimum comfort.

Billy and I fiddled with the pedals and the shoes and also the riding position to give him optimum drive and minimal chance of injuring himself. We took probably an hour to do that, and then I had him practising clipping in and out of the pedals–he grasped it more quickly than I had. However, it usually takes one or two falls before you remember all the time–especially if you’ve been used to riding with ordinary pedals.

Having finished setting up Billy’s bike, I did the lunch while a very red-faced Simon gambolled about on back lawn with four kids and a football. We had lunch and after clearing up, by which time nearly an hour had elapsed, Billy and I went out for our ride.

As we went, I made him practice how to clip in and out of his pedals, it takes a while to learn or to master the technique, but he was doing fine–you usually do until you have to stop quickly and forget–then whack–down you go and it hurts. Next, I made sure he knew how to brake and how to change gear. It sounds easy enough, after all he’s already got a bike with gears, but I wanted him to do it properly and smoothly. He was a ready pupil.

Finally, we did a ride, going out along the bike path and soon after on to the road where some experience in traffic is essential to learn how to ride safely. I admit, I rode differently to my usual style of zipping in and out of traffic–to teach Billy the safe way to ride in it. He seemed to get the hang quite quickly. Then we reached another bike path and as it seemed clear, I challenged him to a race to the next lamp post. I let him win because I wanted see him ride–he was developing a reasonable technique. He then challenged me–well, I couldn’t let him have it all his own way, and it would show him there are faster riders, so not to become complacent.

Okay, I’m bigger, stronger and more experienced, so I beat him without much effort, but give him a year or two and he’ll be giving me a better race, but for now–I thrashed him. I was actually standing by my bike when he stopped suddenly, forgot to unclip and fell down–on the grass verge, thankfully, but it reminded him that there a few things to think about in learning a new skill.

He wasn’t hurt, and he lay there laughing with the bike lying on top of him and me shaking my head at him and smiling. I helped him up and checked him over and then the bike. He seemed to be enjoying himself and on his own, out of the shadow of the genius level girls and the larger more aggressive Danny, he was revelling in the attention he was getting. I hoped he was doing it because he wanted to, not just to get my attention.

On the ride back, I pushed the pace a little to see if he could last and he managed to stay with me for speeds under twelve miles an hour. I’d forgotten to fit him a computer, and as I think I had a spare one in the shed, I’d do that for him later.

As we approached the drive, I asked him if he’d enjoyed himself and he asked if we could ride again tomorrow. I told him I’d think about it.

The girls came running to see his new bike, they then got theirs out and rode up and down the drive. Danny looked a little jealous, although I know he wants a new pair of football boots for his birthday. The girls seemed unaffected by my largesse to one of their siblings, seeming to understand, when they need something, they’re likely to get it and that the system takes it in turn.

Simon and his Jaguar had gone, presumably to collect Julie–she likes his car, which was why I asked him to get her. Leon, had gone home early, his mother had some engagement, so asked him to go early to escort her–he wasn’t too happy because it meant he couldn’t do his usual tongue wrestling with Julie when she came home.

As I showered after my ride, I mused on the day. It had been good to get Billy interested in something, it had been difficult dealing with a churlish Simon, but at least the girls had helped me with that–playing football with him, he’d had some fun I think, so hopefully his mood would improve by the time he came back–however, some sort of black cloud seemed to hover over me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that life was about to get difficult again–although the type of challenge it would pose was unknown. Possibly I was becoming a bit paranoid–it’s been a good day, what’s going to go wrong now and spoil it? I would find out soon enough.