My son is 14 years old and he gets on his bicycle every single day to train. When he's not racing or training you can usually find him on his mountain bike riding around doing wheelies or stoppies because he enjoys it. In talking with another Mom of a cyclist (actually she has two) we were referring how our son's have such good relationship's with their cycling friends. It's something they don't really have with their friends at school who don't ride a bicycle daily. I guess cyclist's are thought to be strange, or different. They go outside in spandex and ride in 90 degree weather or they go outside in 10 degree weather to get their fix. To us it's a normal way of life. Does that make us better than anyone? Gosh no, but that does make a bond with our group of cycling friends that much stronger. Cycling parents are even worse, you can go to any bicycle race and 4 out of 5 of the cycling mom's are feeding, pinning numbers or taking pics of someone else's kid. We don't even think twice about it. The dad's are the same except they are exchanging tool's or part's or advice on gluing a tire or fixing a derailleur hanger. I know that if I am not there and Jordan is racing, there will be a Parent who will keep me updated and if God forbid anything were to happen they would take care of him like he was their own. Are baseball or basketball families any different? I don't know, we haven't been in that world in about 4 years. I hope it is because I hope that every parent and child that plays sports can experience the same happy feeling that we do when we race. We are very lucky to have these people surrounding us and our children. If you don't believe me, I dare you to come watch a cycling event and soak it all in. Go to your local bicycle shop and I can bet they will do what they can to help out a Junior Cyclist.
So, to answer the question: I do it because my son is happiest when he's on a bicycle. As a parent how could you hinder that happiness? The added bonus, maybe it will pay for college one day. The real added bonus, I get to see these kid's smiling faces and know that they are putting their heart and soul into something they love.
