Hit By a Car

My boyfriend keeps a scanner in our bedroom. This morning he heard a boy on a bike got hit by a car near the CNR Center in the old downtown area of our town. This was right after my 14-year-old son left to go visit a friend. On his bike. So naturally I jumped into my car and drove down there to see if it was my son. It wasn't.

The victim was a much younger boy who by the way lived through the experience just fine so don't start crying. I talked to the poor woman who was driving the car. She was still shaking and terribly upset. She said it happened up on Indian Creek Road. Two boys came down one of the dirt roads out of the hills as fast as they could on their bikes and without looking or stopping rode right in front of her. She hit the smaller boy, then he asked her to drive him to his grandparents' house which was downtown near the CNR Center.

It reminded me of the time my brother got hit by a car when he was seven and spent a month in a body cast in the hospital. As I recalled there was not much liability since my brother was riding erratically and wasn't looking where he was going.

I guess it is time to review bicycle safety with the kids. My son rides as fast as he possibly can around this town. He's very fast. I will corner him and discuss safety with him.. probably tonight during our homeschool session.

This semester I'm reading a bicycle touring manual with him so this will give us plenty of time to talk about the hazards of the road.

New BMX Bicycle for Aaron

Oregon is only twenty miles north of where I live so it wasn't a MAJOR journey - just a shopping trip with my 14-year-old son Aaron. We went there yesterday to purchase a new bike for him.

We got to BikeKraft at 4pm giving us plenty of time for shopping. The bike was his birthday gift - he was born on June 1.

Bikes are his life. He has been learning the art of bike mechanics for years.

He had the choice of a mountain bike or bmx. I thought the mountain bike was best but he chose a bmx. I am happy to report I didn't try to make him see things my way - and he is now following his bmx dreams.

Aaron's new BMX bicycle is a root beer brown SE Mauler 3.0".

What Aaron Likes To Talk About

Long day - and I'm still not done. Aaron wants to talk. Mostly its about going over jumps on his bike. He never seems to tire of talking about that. Or anything, for that matter. He's a very verbal person. Age 13. He goes out to visit friends almost daily. They just love the way he knows how to fix their bikes and he appreciates being with others who want to talk about bikes all day long.

Birthday, Brookings, Bikes, and the River Run Website

On July 13 I had my 51st birthday. I don't really feel that old, but I'm sure by the end of the year I'll get used to it. I've been dieting since June 2 and have lost 14 lbs. plus have been walking almost every evening lately, up to three miles at a time.

On July 4 I went to the coast (Brookings, Oregon) with my children. They have a wonderful pyrotechnics display and the kids enjoyed playing in the ocean. My daughter wanted to find a boy to flirt with and was very pleased that instead a boy from Grants Pass found her while she was standing out there in the ocean. She's 14.

I'm concerned about bike theft in this small town we live in. This last winter my son rebuilt a number of bikes. He got old bikes and parts from the dump and had quite a few ready to sell this year but a thief took most of them! Others in town have been stolen from as well. Its very frustrating and I can only say I'm so proud of my son that he's not the one doing the stealing. He's a great kid. He still has the Mongoose mountain bike I bought him last year and we've found a place to buy him a new derailleur. He broke his during a bike crash a while back.

I offered to create a website for the River Run (motorcycle run) our community sponsors every July fourth weekend. I'll probably have to wait a few weeks to see what they decide about that.