In praise of men and their sons

[wabisabi]

We finally had a couple of nice sunny days, so we had a good turnout for the cycling group this morning. In it were two men and their sons, one son about 20 who is working here for Americorps, and the other from work (at a university) with his 13 year old (and tall) who is training for a group cycling trip this summer, with his father who has not ridden in a while. And, on the way, I ran into another man from work who was riding with his probably 12 year old son.

Most of these men are my age, and such good men, very aware, and it was somehow incredibly touching to see them with their sons.

It makes me look forward to the great men that we have and will have in the world!

[Grog]

Cycling with dad makes a good men growing old.

My wonderful boyfriend cycled with his dad through his childhood and teens, and still did until recently (his dad had a bad cycling accident and is not yet back on the bike... although I have faith he will be by the end of this Summer). Both of them are really sweet men, and you can tell how exercising together made them pretty close...

I'm sure cycling with mom works too, I just don't happen to know mother-daughter cycling duos.

[Lise]

Aw. That is really great. Thanks for telling us about it. I love seeing my brother-in-law with his children, my nephew and niece. Cycling together must be a wonderful bond. L.

[RoadRaven]

One of the things that I lurve about the cycling in this house is the wonderful relationships that our sons have with my partner.

They want to train with him

They want to sit around afterwards and disect races and training rides

They want to work with him on the bikes in the shed

And then I listen to the way they encourage and support me, and my younger boys, and try to include their sister even though she is not a cyclist. I listen to the mature way they talk and listen to friends and relations

I watch them from the corner of my eye at races talking to strangers and older folk respectfully and I am so incredibly proud for them.

And I strongly believe that their fathers input and interest is huge in this.

I watch other boys at schools, at sports events and their fathers are absent, or are hurling almost-abuse at them, that demoralising, prodding kids to be more aggressive stuff... and those boys look differently at their dads, and don't choose to spend spare time with their fathers.

I am very thankful. I married a good man, and we are raising good men.

Thanks for starting this thread, wabisabi

[wabisabi]

I ran into the mom of the young boy today and told her what a great job he did (and his 60 something year old dad!).

Grog, I hope that you BFs dad is well again soon, they must miss their time together. My dad will be 95 and still rides his bike.

Thanks for raising good men, RR and partner.

Makes me think about the girls I know and who I can 'adopt' to ride with....I try to always say something encouraging when I ride by young girls on bikes on the bike path.

[RoadRaven]

wabisabi... great idea to support/encourage young girls in this.

At a recent school triathalon for 10-16 year olds, the majority of kids there were girls - possibly more than 3/4...

It was great to see... but you could see these girls looking at boys like my two eldest (aged 15 and 16) who are very strong and fast, on flash bikes, and these girls just looked a little demoralised.

Yet many of them had tremendous potential... absolutely... perhaps this should be a belated "New Year Resolution" for all of us... to encourage/support a young female rider in whatever type of cycling she is interested in - even if it is just to talk to her and ask her "hows it going?".

[li10up]

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow".

I LOVED THIS!!

[RoadRaven]

Hey there li10up
I like it... I think it really fits with my attitude to cycling... cause it is not always easy, and sometimes as much as I want to enjoy it, it hurts... and sometimes it takes alot to have another go...
Glad you like it

[Geonz]

I printed it out and posted it up on the wall in my tutoring lab - it also applies to struggling students ;-)

[RoadRaven]

LOL, Geonz... I teach adults, and yes, I have used the same quote as my "thought for the day"
Unfortunately I don't know who said it - if anyone finds out can you let me know? I like to give credit where its due...