A lesson from a bike ride

Last Saturday, we had our youngest grandson, Wyatt, over at the house for the day. So, of course, that included a bike ride. I’m finding it is getting harder and harder during those rides on my mountain bike, especially trying to keep up with an 11-year-old.

Our ride went on a trail in the woods around our house and along the roads in our neighborhood. There were times I had to yell to Wyatt to slow down as I was having a hard time keeping up. But, overall he did a good job of obeying and being aware during the ride. (As an old guy, you realize that there is a good reason that young people have kids. Old folks just can’t run with them but for just so long,)

That ride brought back memories of another bike ride several years earlier with another grandson. Aaron, Wyatt’s older brother, was staying with us when he was 7 years old, and was ready for a bike ride. So he put on his bike helmet and off we went.

I had some rules. Don’t get too far ahead of me. Stay on the right side of the road. Watch out for cars. And most of all, listen and obey me while we are on the road. The street we ride on was quiet, with few cars traveling on it, but we still need to be careful.

We headed out and turned left onto West Arrowhead Drive, heading down toward the end where we seldom meet any cars. Aaron loved to ride his little bicycle. He liked that it was a regular, big boy bicycle, and that it could go fast. (Now he likes hunting and a dirt bike.) When we got to the end of the street, we turned around and headed back.

To be honest, I was having a hard time keeping up with then little fellow. Yes, even back then! Remember, he liked to go fast. There was a slight downhill on the road, and Aaron really started to go.

“Slow down! Pay attention to where you are going!” I yelled. But Aaron wasn’t paying attention. He was having fun and going fast. And he wasn’t paying attention, as he strayed from the right side of the road, as he headed into a curve. As I sped up trying to catch him, I looked around the curve. There was a car coming!

“Watch out, Aaron!” I screamed, “There’s a car coming!” The driver of the car, fortunately, had seen him and had already slowed down as Aaron steered his bike back to the right side and away from danger. After a scolding for not paying attention and not listening to his Papa Mac, we headed back home. Hopefully, the 7-year-old had learned a lesson. After dropping Aaron back home to his parents late that afternoon, I thought about the bike incident while driving back home. I remembered a couple of close calls I had while riding my bicycle back on Maxwell Road as a kid. Probably many reading this have your own bicycle close call stories.

Aaron knew the rules of riding his bicycle with his grandfather. The rules were there for a reason — to protect him from harm. But Aaron disregarded them because he was having fun, and was going fast. He strayed out of the lane he was supposed to and rode directly into danger. He paid little attention as I yelled warnings. I suppose there is a moral to that little story. You know, the danger of disregarding rules that are meant for your good because you are going fast and having fun. Straying from the path in which you are supposed to go. Not paying attention to warnings that there is possible danger ahead. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned in this story for us adults, also.

Slow down, pay attention, and stay in the right lane. That’s good advice now for the grandkids as they are getting older. And that’s good advice for the rest of us who are already there.