Biking with boys is a rough, unpredictable sport. Although bike etiquette comes slowly, boys on bikes do not.
Boys on bikes are powerful, confident and free! They are captains of their wheels; masters in the wind.
When you go biking with boys, you may encounter things like this:
- The neon-helmeted junior rider in front of you may stop abruptly in the middle of the bike trail. He will expect you to stop, too — although you had no warning.
- When there’s an orange cone on the trail, warning riders of a hazard, (crumbling pavement, loose gravel, etc.) a biking boy will zigzag as possible to the cone before swerving. He will veer left at the same time you yell out in horror: WATCH OUT! It’s like playing a telepathic game of “chicken.”
- Boys on bikes like to ride “hands free” on easy stretches, or when younger riders roll by.
- The exhilaration of riding may cause boys on bikes to play “air guitar” for 5-10 seconds before safely gripping their handlebars again.
- Boys and bikes enjoy a symbiotic relationship. The boy propels the bike, and the bike energizes the boy. I know this, because when a boy dismounts a bike, he is suddenly energy-zapped, thirsty, and ravenous.
Boys on bikes do not care about Haiku, but some moms on bikes do:
~~~
Bike ride on a trail
Nature perfumes our journey
Through sunshine and shade
~~~
Orange cone photo credit: Colin Czerwinski
My Word Soup 
As the mom of a boy, I can confirm that all of this is true.
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Your first statement is so true! As the mom of four boys, I used to bike a lot with them. My suggestion – don’t bike with clipped shoes if biking with boys – you may need to stop in a hurry and clips don’t always release as fast as you would like.
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