Visiting friends in Livermore, the one son wanted to go to PDJ.
I don’t do bike parks because I’m terrible at jumping but what the heck, let’s go, is what I thought. I could see the excitement in his eyes.
PDJ = Pleasanton Dirt Jumps. The grom mountain biker was only a few weeks into it. Middle-school aged, you might say. PDJ stickers on his bike. He watches YouTubes.
We arrived. Unloaded the bikes from the rack, we did.
He saddled up, with his helmet properly worn and …
First run of the morning. His second or third time there, ever.
“He’s good.”
“I didn’t even know he could do that. I’m visiting and have never been here. Who knew he could send?!”
“Pretty impressive.”
I agreed with the local family, there with their kids. He came back and we bumped fists and then I grabbed my bike. I went to put the seat back up, it being down from loading the two bikes. When I pushed on the lever, ouch.
Bike ouch.
The cable came out. No dropper. No workey work.
“Well, I gotta try and fix this. I’m terrible at fixing mechanicals. Go send some more.”
He did. More families rolled in, and more kids were sendin’. A little girl, maybe 5 years old, was rippin’ her way around the various tracks, complete with knee-high purple socks and purple ponytail hanging out the back of her helmet.
All that youthful energy inspired me. I got the cable shoved back in and tightened things down enough to make it work. I went a few rounds and managed to catch zero air. I prefer my wheels/tires to say connected to the dirt. Ha!
No send, for me!
Not my friend’s boy, though. Nope. He kept going, hitting some of the bigger drop ins and was havin’ a blast.
“Thanks, Jim, for sendin’ with me this morning.”
“Dude, I didn’t send anything!”
One of my favorite things about getting old is seeing young people thrive. Often as we age, we get a little cranky, even feel a little less positive about the future.
This moment in time taught me to keep the positive vibrations. The kids need us to support their stoke. If they feel the stoke, we have to notice it, be the “wiser” ones and smile and fist bump/high five … and hopefully feel genuine in all of it.
I sure did.
“Thank you,” is what I said to him. “You reminded me of the importance of mountain biking. It’s about having fun.”
He smiled.
I did too.
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