That Makes Two...

Two new Trek bikes in my household this year, that is, and neither one belongs to me.

*sulk*

But, truth be told, I love Old Blue, and I'll be OK - as long as I never allow myself to ride a current-generation road bike.  According to the owner of the LBS (local bike store), Blue was primo in her day, but today's carbon fiber bikes are a huge leap forward in speed, agility, and comfort.  I'll just keep Blue and use her as my scapegoat every time Gary smokes me on a ride.

I digress.

There is a new bike in the house!  In honor of the newest bike rider in the family, who outgrew her old bike before she ever really learned how to ride it, we've added another bike to the rack.  That makes 6 active bikes, as well as several others hanging in the shed, for 3 riders.  Yes, we realize we have a problem, but we don't care.  People collect all kinds of stuff.  Give me one good reason why Hummels are a better collecting choice than bikes. *silence*  Yeah, I thought so.

Again, I digress.

Madi's birthday is next month, and since she's now been riding a bike for all of 4 weeks (not kidding), all she wants is a new bike.  Gary and I want her to have a fighting chance of keeping up with us on rides, so a discount-store bike wasn't going to cut it.  We didn't, however, want to put a top-notch bike in the hands of someone so young... after all, we all know how kids treat bikes.

So, after much searching and many, many test rides, I found a (new) 2010 Trek Skye S on clearance for a reasonable price that also met Madi's exacting specifications - it had to be fast, and it had to be blue.

Here's our girl on her new bike.

I want to point out that this is a women's bike, and not even the smallest frame size.  The picture below compares it to my (red) mountain bike.  Obviously, the geometry is different, but Madi's bike fits me fine when you raise the seat.  The truly sobering knowledge is that this bike will likely be too small when she's fully grown.  Sigh.

Here's her current bike (on the left) parked next to her new bike.

I am filled-to-the-top with happiness.

One of my greatest disappointments as a parent was that, in spite of my love of cycling, neither of my children were interested enough to even bother to learn how to ride a bike.  It just seems so basic for a kid to ride a bike, and it always broke my heart that I couldn't share my passion.

But now, in a few short weeks, all of that has changed - for half my children, at least. It is ironic that Madi literally learned to ride the day after I damaged my knee, putting my cycling on hold, but at least she's been able to ride with her dad.

I'm SO looking forward to the day when I can get back in the saddle and have some fun rides with my not-so-little girl!