avablog

It’s impressive to see how good Ava’s become on her bike over the last couple weeks. I volunteered at the Hoover bike rodeo yesterday afternoon, so I got to see Ava in action among her peers.
I worked the “Signals and Turns” station, at which riders were required to navigate a short course of four turns before earning my initials on their “passports.” The event was set up on a fairly bumpy, very grassy area near the school, and I wasn’t sure how well young riders would be able to keep momentum while signalling with one hand and trying to pedal through the turf. And then here comes plucky Ava, toodling hard across the field toward my station. She wanted to be the first to try my course. So, after a quick refresher on the hand signals and a warning about the big bumps on the fourth corner, I sent her on her way. To my amazement, she rode the entire course — signals and all — only faltering as she rounded the last corner. My grinch heart grew three times, at least, as I watched my little girl stand on her pedals and race down the backstretch to the finish. Of the couple dozen kids who came through that afternoon, only one — a sixth-grade boy — did as well as Ava. She had a big grin on her face the whole ride back home after the event, and rightly so.