[manimal]

A neighbor moved out today and stopped by to ask if noah wanted their kids' old bike. turns out it's the perfect in-between size of the tiny 12" red huffy and his huge 16" green haro nyquist. i had to switch out the h-bars with the ones off of an old bike to make it fit right for him but man!.....he's so stoked to have something that he can't out-pedal in 3 strokes but is still flickable enough to jump.

so enough with the story....here are the pics from our trip to country park today
(sorry about the blurriness of some of the pics, either i'm an idiot or i need to upgrade to a better "action" camera. it gives me a headache trying to get a good action shot in overcast conditions.

heading up to the start after a good run.

his first time ever trying this step-down. the tranny is super steep but he hit it like a pro. the pic doesn't really show the steepness of this jump but i was impressed!

a little hucking action

some bermitude....check the front tire roost!

this is his dusty/muddy face after a few hours of riding and the gnarliest crash ever. (went too fast through the biggest berm out there and just shot right over the top of it....landed on his face and then the bike landed on top of him.. but he got up, dusted himself off, wiped the tear from his eye and just sat down and had a swig of water to wash the dirt out of his mouth. he's got some nice scratches and strawberries around his eyes from that one ) .....and after all that....a hint of a smile

 

[hooples3]

lol thats aweome.. cant wait to have a little one of my own to ride with. i wish i started riding at that age

 

[ito]

Manimal, your kid rocks! So cool to see how stoked he is on riding. Got some skill too, way to get him into it and karma to the neighbor for the new bike.

The Ito

 

[rpk1988]

Holy crap man your kids rule. Rock On!!!

 

[PatBranch]

He's good for his age. Can he bunny hop?

 

[BigMike]

nice

I'm still mad you guys never showed up when I went out to the park :angry:

 

[manimal]

nice

I'm still mad you guys never showed up when I went out to the park :angry:

sorry dude.....just too hard to schedule things in between 3 jobs/3 kids/ full time school and high maintenance wife

 

[manimal]

He's good for his age. Can he bunny hop?

he can't quite bunnyhop yet but then again, he's only 34lbs and he just turned 5. he can get the front wheel high enough to "baby manual" up some curbs though. he actually landed a one-footer (which he calls a one-legger) over one of the tables at the park....pretty much just launched, slid his foot of the pedal and put it back on as he was landing...i was pretty stoked

this is him on one of his other bike over that table

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

I don't want to sound like a sissy, but if that kid hurts himself it is YOUR fault.

Kids have no concept of danger and no concept of consequence. You have to make EVERY judgement for that kid until he is much, much older.

 

[Changleen]

You can't get hurt at 5. You bounce. Tell Lil' Manimal he's awesome. Did you make the judgement of how fast to take that berm at for him?

 

[BuddhaRoadkill]

I don't want to sound like a sissy, but if that kid hurts himself it is YOUR fault.

Kids have no concept of danger and no concept of consequence. You have to make EVERY judgement for that kid until he is much, much older.

I emphatically disagree. Kids are supposed to hurt themselves ... a lot!! That's how they learn of danger and consequence. It's great to see a parent let their kid be a kid for a change. Lil' Manimal will have confidence levels far and above his peers.

That portrait shot rocks.

 

[Peete]

I don't want to sound like a sissy, but if that kid hurts himself it is YOUR fault.

Kids have no concept of danger and no concept of consequence. You have to make EVERY judgement for that kid until he is much, much older.

Sorry, you did come across as a sissy. An attitude like that is the reason there are so many kids today who just sit on their asses in front of a TV playing videos and getting FAT.

My youngest got life flighted out of the BMX track a few years back for face planting a paved berm. Cracked eye socket and sinus bone. Some of our friends thought we were(still are) off of our rockers for letting him back on a bike after that. Not only did he get on the bike AND start racing as soon as he was cleared but he went and took national #1 the next year.
My daughter broke her collarbone last year at the southeast 4X final. She was tearing up Hobby park this weekend and is already bothering me about going to Sea Otter next year.

Noah may one day be at the pinnacle of our sport, or he may burn out by the time he's 10. As a parent you need to ensure the child's equipment is in good order and encourage him/her to push their limits. If they fall you help them back up.
On that note I am stoked to announce my daughter has decided to race this year.

 

[laura]

lil' maniamal pics are some of my favorites. i can't believe how big that kid's getting!

 

[BigMike]

sorry dude.....just too hard to schedule things in between 3 jobs/3 kids/ full time school and high maintenance wife

Yeah, just keep making excuses!

Its all good man, and I soooooo wish my dad had gotten me into riding when I was that age. You better belive my kid will be! (in a far far away time)

 

[TreeSaw]

Dude...I've said it before, and I am sure to say it again, 'lil manimal ROCKS I always look forward to seeing his pics. IMO it's awesome that you take him riding and don't push him...you let him fall and get back up (don't listen to the people who say it's your fault and you shouldn't take him riding). He's getting some mad skills and can already school me on the jumps Can't wait to see more!!!!

 

[splat]

I don't want to sound like a sissy, but if that kid hurts himself it is YOUR fault.

Kids have no concept of danger and no concept of consequence. You have to make EVERY judgement for that kid until he is much, much older.

I disagree with you on this ! You do not have to make EVERY judgement call for them ! they do have a Sense of Danger. the probel I think will be if you push them to do things they are afraid of.

I know My son has been doing this sort of stuff since before he had his training wheels off . and he has been a maniac about it ( scaring the crap out of my wife ). but there still are and always has been things he is scared to do, but wants to do them. at that point I will usually help him, by spotting him or helping him through it.

By your loginc up above , what happeneds when his abilities out shine your own ? do you hold him back ? because it is your judgement that it is too hard ?

 

[manimal]

I don't want to sound like a sissy, but if that kid hurts himself it is YOUR fault.

Kids have no concept of danger and no concept of consequence. You have to make EVERY judgement for that kid until he is much, much older.

i appreciate your concern...however...but..comma, he was the one that wanted to hit that berm. his problem was that it was a new and faster bike that took him into a lot faster than he'd ever taken it before. now....he crashed, but i guarantee he'll be faster through it the next time since he knows the limit now.

my wife even agrees with his riding....she turns away sometimes on the bigger stuff but she doesn't freak out or anything. he's the one that is always tugging on my leg saying, "daddy...can we PLEASE go riding now!"

i'll encourage him to try bigger stuff but i always tell him that he doesn't HAVE to do anything, i just let him know what he's capable of.....and as you see, he's pretty capable. if i had never challenged him to try something new, he'd still be rolling off of curbs and crashing, but now he's hitting a 4-5' tall 6 pack and making it.

i don't let him do anything that carries an unreasonable risk....c'mon man, how many kids do you have? him getting hurt is the last thing i'd ever want...but at the same time, he already understands that this type of riding is synonymous with cuts and scrapes. i told him from day one, "you're going to crash, it's going to hurt....but it's worth it"

does this look like a kid that minds a few scrapes on his noggin?

 

[splat]

...c'mon man, how many kids do you have? him getting hurt is the last thing i'd ever want...

Bingo! Spoken like a true father ! My son Knows there are limits too! and as my Father used to tell, I tell him If Your Gonna Be stupid, You Got to be tough!

I swear When he does crash, it hurts me too!