Kids Don't Follow

   Once again making a musical reference in my blog title (this time a Replacements tune), I’ll remind all parents that you can expose your kids to as many of your interests as you like, but the odds are that very few of them will actually stick.

   My younger son, Carrick, had his wedding this past weekend, and I found myself reminiscing - I suppose, as most parents would. The memories, in this case, had a specific theme, since a couple of customers had recently asked how I got started with my bicycle business. My regular answer to this question is that it was something I did when homeschooling my boys, during the moments when they were working independently, and I didn’t have to be right over their shoulders, supervising.
   Inevitably, someone will ask, “Are they cyclists, too?” I always answer that I could never expect them to be into it as much as I am, but they are really only occasional participants, at best. My friends crack up hearing a story about Colin doing a summer solo ride into Philadelphia from Valley Forge (a decent 40-mile round trip) and stopping somewhere along the way for a hoagie and a milkshake. No matter how wonderfully satisfying that sounds, I can’t say that his training program will actually improve anyone’s fitness.
   Despite once telling me outright, “Dad, I hate exercising,” Carrick has always been more willing to give different sports a try, as he played both baseball and soccer a couple of seasons. Perhaps because he was aware of the origin of his name (Sean Kelly’s hometown of Carrick-on-Suir), he was also more enthusiastic about giving cycling a decent shot. His first road bike was actually one of my first refurbish projects over a decade ago, a mid-1980s Schwinn Traveler that we stripped, painted and finished with new decals.

What Sue's bike looked like, pre-repaint...

...and after (and unfortunately before I knew how to properly stage bicycle photos)

   As a senior project, I purchased a Giant TCR frameset, and together we selected all the parts to build it up. With my guidance and only an occasional lending of a third hand, Carrick did all the assembly himself.

   I have two favorite memories riding with him shortly after completion of his bike. The first was climbing a short, steep hill nearby, and Carrick trying as hard as he could to keep up with my pace. “Can we stop when we get to the top? I’m seeing stars!”
   The other was pedaling along the Schuylkill River Trail along Kelly Drive into Philadelphia. Carrick sprinted by me with a laugh, like he was leaving me in the dust. He wasn’t too happy when I accelerated up next to him, and he saw I was barely breathing while he was gasping for breath. He really didn’t like it when I said, “Yeah, but how long can you hold this speed?”, and he promptly started to coast.
   When your kids are really little, it’s fun to let them win - when they're teens, not so much!

   Two classic Italian bikes rolled out of the shop in the past couple weeks, and happily one (the Pinarello) went right into a shipping box, bound for Singapore! Cycle Tech is kind of a globetrotter.

Ciao, for now!