bicyclist rehabilitation

[mimitabby]

about 2 years ago, our neighbor kid (about 9 at the time) broke his arm falling off his bike. I have no idea what happened, but he quit riding.

He moved to Puyallup and then moved back here recently at the end of the school year, and he came around recently and asked if he could ride on our tandem.
Raleighdon said sure. He confessed that he was afraid and hadn't ridden since he hurt himself. He's almost 12 years old and is finally big enough to fit onto the stoker seat on the tandem; moved way down as far as it goes. So we went to Seward park (a 2.5 mile paved circular path) and took him for a spin. After 4 miles he was tired and wanted to get off. We got off and he smiled and asked if we could go some more. We rode 6.5 miles slowly picking up speed from about 8 mph to 11 or 12, with him getting more relaxed and confident all the way. Fun!
we have a date for 2 weeks from today to go for a "real" ride.