Time Machine: a Kid on a Bike

Parents understand that raising kids is an opportunity to re-live your own childhood and last weekend's Kids Ride was another one of those opportunities. I've gone back in time riding the streets of Atlanta on bikes with our kids and caught glimpses of myself at a time I began steering my own course through life.

Rhonda talks about her son Cole's feeling of empowerment. For kids dependent on their parents to take them around in the car, it feels good to go places under your own power. Doing it on your own changes how you see the world.

Although we took an easy pace, Atlanta is still a hilly city and the legs get a good workout. The rewards of that effort however, are immediate. Cresting the hill means you can coast down the other side and catch your breath. I pay attention to hills, but I'd been missing them too. Out of familiarity, I had lost the thrill of the downhill, but was able to find it again.

Tom's daughter Carli is now choosing the bike for short trips. A simple "I can do that" carries a lot of power. It's genuine self-confidence.

We often carry into adulthood activities we enjoyed growing up. Positive experiences like these will propagate for generations.