Calvin's First Mtn Bike Ride

I had some down time today and like I usually do when I have down time I decided to go for a bike ride. As I was getting ready Calvin asked if he could go. He has a little mountain bike that he rides around the neighborhood and I have been hesitant to take him to the hills because I have not wanted to traumatize him by pushing him too hard too early.

On the way up we had the talk about how there is no crying in mountain biking unless you are really hurt. He agreed.

In the parking lot of the Shore Line trail in Layton, I explained to him that this is really hard and it is ok if you can't make it up a hill or if you are scared to go down a hill. I shifted his bike into granny gear and told him to pull his right brake more than his left one when he goes down the hills and off we went.

I let him go in front of me and really didn't expect him to make it up the first hill but he did and then just kept going. He had to get off a few times and pushed then got back on as soon as he could. We came down a steep hill with a stream crossing at the bottom of it, I told him to just go for it and he looked at me confused so I showed him how to do it. I left my bike on the other side of the stream and came back to help him across, then just to show off I crossed the stream again, and climbed the hill that we descended to get to the stream when I noticed a snake crossing the trail in front of me. I see snakes quite often and don't usually get too excited about it since they are usually the harmless non-venomous varieties. I didn't see the snake until I was almost on top of it so I just moved to the opposite side of the trail and kept going, as my left foot rounded the bottom of the pedal stroke I looked down and saw the rattles, it was at that point that I put together the ticking noise I was hearing was the rattle as the snake was scurrying to get out of my way. I jumped a little then got off my bike and ran back just in time to see the distinct tail disappear in the grass on the side of the trail. Then I realized from the direction he was going he had to have been right next to the trail on the uphill slope as Calvin and I just passed by. Needless to say it kind of freaked me out. I turned around and crossed the stream again and caught up to Calvin. Calvin wasn't even phased by the snake when I told him about it he just wanted to keep going. Cool

We kept going and passed Adams Canyon, we were climbing a hill as the trail narrowed and dropped off steeply to one side. Calvin stalled out on the slope and high sided off of his bike down the steep slope next to the trail. I felt hopeless as I watched him slide about 30 feet down stopping just shy of plopping into the drink. All I could say is let go of your bike! I think he was worried that he was going to loose it in the river. It took me a couple of minutes to get him and his bike back up to the trail. He had some pretty good scratches on his back from his chain ring but he wanted to keep going. So we did.

We stopped at the top of a cliff and threw some rocks then went home. I will have to say the kid is a natural, he asked when we could go again on the way home. This is going to get expensive.