Ridge's New Bike

Well, here it is - Ridge's first bicycle. He's pretty happy with it. It's hard to see, but it you look closely at the frame, part of it says, "Rasing Bike". That's "rasing" with an "s". You see that kind of thing all over the place here. By that I am referring to shirts and other items with odd English on them.

Back to the bike.... We had been looking for two weekends, now, trying to find a bike for Ridge that wasn't just junk. Since most stores get new bikes in stock only in the spring time, out selection was limited. On Monday, we went to Nayoro to see what we could find. After searching two stores, we decided to just wait until spring, unfortunately. We did some grocery shopping, ate at "Mos Burger", and headed out of town at about five thirty. On our way out, I spied a bike shop that seemed to still be open. Aaron turned the car around and went in to check things out. Not only were they open for another hour, they had just what we were looking for. While Holt and I waited in the car, father and son practically dashed inside to pick out the long awaited bicycle. It's hard to say who was more excited!

Ridge picked out this silver one right away. The old man who owned the store carefully got it down and thoroughly cleaned it off. He then topped off the tires with some air, adjusted the seat, and checked to make sure it fit Ridge just right. As they left the store, Aaron allowed Ridge to ride it down the street to where the car was parked. The man and his wife (?) cheered Ridge on as he pedaled his little heart out down the dark road. Thank goodness he only had to go about 30 yards. Aaron manuvered it into the trunk and the shop owner sauntered down the sidewalk to make sure we got it in okay. We all waved good-bye to each other as Aaron pulled out of the parking space and pointed us home. All in all, it was a much more pleasant experience, I think, than you might have buying a bike at a large chain retail store.

He's so excited now, 'cause he can ride his bike to Seicomart when we go to buy milk. Of course, we will have to put the milk into his basket! What a happy guy!