This post was written by our 8 year old (and typed by her mom. Hunting and pecking 400 words would have taken a really long time!) It was her idea, and these are all of her own words. Happy Father’s Day, Tim! We love you.
My Dad is the one who taught me to ride my bike without training wheels.
In the summer, we used to go down to our spot at Magnuson, it was a steep grassy hill by the tennis courts. Dadddy drove me down there with my bike, it was usually only me and daddy. I would coast down the hill, try and steer and while I was steering, I tried to see if I could use my brakes while doing it. We would stay there all day. The only time I got hurt was when I was going down the part of the hill that I usually didn’t go down, I tried to steer, except my bike fell over. The back of my knee was out so I scraped the back of my knee.
I didn’t want to ride my bike again. But my dad convinced me to keep riding, and now I’m a good rider. I think it is because I did not give up. And If I gave up, I may never feel the joys of riding.
One of my favorite things to do on a hot day is coast down the hill and feel the cool breeze on my face. I don’t even mind that I have to climb up the hill again because every part of riding makes me feel good that I accomplished it and proud of what I did.
When I was younger, in like first grade, I thought that a lot of people knew about my parents. And now that I’m older, I understand it’s true. So I’m proud to be writing a blog post for them because I’ve always felt proud of my parents.
I’m glad riding a bike exists because on hot days cars are so HOT and on cold days cars are just freezing. I’ve experienced both.
One day my dad took me to get dinner on bikes. We passed a donut shop and I smelled the most delicious smell! It was fresh donuts. And then I realized I could never have smelled something like that in a car. I like bikes better than cars because you get exercise, you get to experience things from not out of a window you really get to experience them. it’s a bit like you’re just walking by.
I thank my dad for helping me to learn that you shouldn’t just drive around in an automobile. It’s better to get exercise and experience things from the real point of view.
– carfreedays girl
Anne & Tim
Tim King
Anne
cfdgirl
Tim K
Car Free Days 
Lovely. Puts a tear to the eye. Can’t wait to teach my little girls to ride.
Guy,Good.I hope you teach them soon.I also, hope they are as enthusiastic as I was!!
Happy Pappy’s Day. Good stuff. I can taste the donuts.
A friend took our girls to Magnuson yesterday. Our girls love their bikes. Our 9 yo is riding well, the 5 yo on training wheels. They love riding bikes with daddy on the Centennial trail in Snohomish county. (They did 5 miles on Weds last week) I hope our girls learn to love to ride as much as the author of this story. The girls enjoyed listening to the story.
Ahna,Great to hear they like to ride(don’t let them get in front of you).Wow 5 miles,that is really far,They probably love it already!!!!I am also glad that they liked the story.
that is the coolest post ever.
vanessa,Thank you,I enjoyed writing it.
Great story!
Being a dad there’s nothing more exciting than watching your kids learn to ride. My 4yr old likes to go “mounting biking”, as he puts it, on our local walking trails. There are some small dirt jumps where I hold the bike at the top until he’s ready then I let him ride down one side. He loves it and we have great time. We typically ride a while, stop and snack then ride home. If he gets tired I can load him and his bike up on my Dummy and roll home, but he’s a trooper and has yet needed Dada’s help getting home.
I also have a 2yr old learning on a balance/push bike, so he’s not far behind.
Good job on learning without training wheels. Kids should start on the balance bikes first and skip training wheels, IMO.
I hope my boys have fond memories of learning to ride as your daughter does..
that is so touching!
Marge,”thank you”
Your daughter is quite the writer! Very nice 🙂
oh, i love this post tremendously. sweet. truthful. lovely.
sara,I’m glad you love it.