Bump, Bump

I’ll admit when I first thought about taking Abigail out to Harmony Hill with our balance bikes, I had fantasies of ripping the semi-flat definitely single track Alt Trail with her.

Once there and on the paved bike path, riding the paved trail and watching all the people walk, run, ride, recreate, etc. was all she was interested in.

So I adjusted my expectations, which was fine. We were surrounded by active people she was curious to watch and follow. What more could I ask for?

At the beginning I asked a few times if she wanted to ride the dirt trail next to the paved path, but no. She was far more interested in what everyone else was doing.

For a while we rode around a guy with a prosthetic leg walking the path. Abigail found it curious. I thought it was pretty amazing.

We rode all the way from the covered bridge to the bridge over the Brandywine. By this time she was getting pretty comfortable with the little hills here and there along the path and wanted to ride the gravely hill coming down from the road to the bridge. It was a little sketchy with all the gravel, but she wanted to try.

Sure enough she crashed. In front of a bunch of people. I expected her to be banged up pretty good with all the gravel, but all was good. A little red and probably embarrassed, she wasn’t in the mood to ride at all now and wanted me to carry her.

This is where the Piggyback Rider comes into play. We got this thing thinking it was a great lightweight alternative to a backpack. Testing it around the yard it seemed great, nice craftsmanship, and lots of details you don’t find on products these days (i.e. stitched labels, not just silk screen). On vacation in the Poconos I tried using it on a hike in lieu of a backpack and found it severely flawed. There’s no waist belt. Anyone who’s hiked with a load on their back knows a waist belt is absolutely necessary to carry the load on their hips and not through the straps on your shoulders. The shoulder straps are stabilization. The waist belt is load. With no waist belt, the Piggyback rider puts all the kid’s weight (up to 60 lbs.) on your shoulders. That gets very painful very quickly.

We were ready to send it back and write all kinds of nasty reviews, but then I thought there might be a specific use for this thing. It’s definitely not something to replace a traditional backpack, but since it packs up tight and compact could be used as a quick kid carry in emergency (or pseudo emergency) situations.

So she fell, didn’t want to ride, and wanted me to carry her. I whipped out the Piggyback rider, got on my bike, carried hers and we rode away. For short distances and it’s highly packable design, the Piggyback Rider saves the day (though I still want to punch Liev Schreiber for looking all cool in NYC with one).

A couple hundred yards down the path a completely unexpected thing happened. Abigail decided she wanted to ride the dirt path.

Cool!

Off the Piggyback Rider, pack it up and hit the dirt trail.

It was really awesome (for me). The trail (being a trail) offers so many challenges for a rider. There’s turns, bumps, sticks, roots, hills, etc. All of which she took on without any doubt. She’d hit a bump or wobble from some obstacle and instantly correct and keep going.

Finally we came to downed limb. She stopped and asked “Daddy what do we do?”

I told her we ride over it. “Bump, bump your tires will hit and you keep going.” So “bump, bump” she repeated and we were off. The next limb/root we came to, she said “bump, bump” again and rode right over it.

She had a blast. She rode everything and had fun exploring the woods.

So much fun, she stopped at one point and decided to climb a hill.

All the way to the top.

I swear if I’d had enough food and water, she’d of stayed and played in the woods the whole day.

But we had to get back. There were chores to do.

See more in the gallery here.

And all from a girl that still drinks milk from a bottle.

– b