Equipment Crew- Part II

[mensagitatmolem]

KB - Thank you for posting the latest hiking pics. I enjoy the pics, as well as the descriptions. I get to feel like we have visited there with you.(without having to do the hiking, that is)

[rthawker]

Hey guys,
A quick update on my situation.
My wife had severe preeclampsia and was forced to deliver the baby on Friday, April 13. This means that he came 6 weeks early. He was 3 lbs and 1.9 ounces. Obviously, he is stuck in the NICU for a while (doctors estimate a minimum of 2 weeks). All that said, he is breathing on his own (which was a major concern) and progressing even better than the doctors had hoped.
My wife has had a rough few days, but is doing very well today. I thank all of you for the thoughts, concerns and prayers. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts as we still have a few hurdles to overcome.

Great news that his lungs are developed enough to breath on his own. You've got a fighter there. Continued good thoughts heading your way.

Name?

[animalfan]

Hey Buff- Glad to hear! I was born 5 weeks early and spent a while in the hospital after. I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing well right now, and look forward to the update where you tell us everyone is home safe and healthy.

Even though it was difficult for all of you, congrats on the new baby.

[JJ-]

Hey guys,
A quick update on my situation.
My wife had severe preeclampsia and was forced to deliver the baby on Friday, April 13. This means that he came 6 weeks early. He was 3 lbs and 1.9 ounces. Obviously, he is stuck in the NICU for a while (doctors estimate a minimum of 2 weeks). All that said, he is breathing on his own (which was a major concern) and progressing even better than the doctors had hoped.
My wife has had a rough few days, but is doing very well today. I thank all of you for the thoughts, concerns and prayers. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts as we still have a few hurdles to overcome.

Congrats on the baby boy! Keep us updated on his and your wife's progress.

[darkfact]

Hey guys,
A quick update on my situation.
My wife had severe preeclampsia and was forced to deliver the baby on Friday, April 13. This means that he came 6 weeks early. He was 3 lbs and 1.9 ounces. Obviously, he is stuck in the NICU for a while (doctors estimate a minimum of 2 weeks). All that said, he is breathing on his own (which was a major concern) and progressing even better than the doctors had hoped.
My wife has had a rough few days, but is doing very well today. I thank all of you for the thoughts, concerns and prayers. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts as we still have a few hurdles to overcome.

I've been gone several days and didnt see this but I'm glad what sounds like a pretty scary situation is looking better for your family. Congrats on your new son man and I hope things continue to trend positively for you!

[twodog]

Interestingly, he found out that an interesting possibility for prematures is some end up forming brain capabilities beyond what they might have if delivered full-term.

Same with my daughter, 7 weeks early, and at 12 years old has been at the top of her class every year. Also, alot of preemies grow quickly and are larger than their counterparts at early ages.

Congratulations Buff, I'm sure the baby will be fine, and here's hoping all is well with your wife. Y'all are in my prayers.

[irongrandpa]

Hey guys,
A quick update on my situation.
My wife had severe preeclampsia and was forced to deliver the baby on Friday, April 13. This means that he came 6 weeks early. He was 3 lbs and 1.9 ounces. Obviously, he is stuck in the NICU for a while (doctors estimate a minimum of 2 weeks). All that said, he is breathing on his own (which was a major concern) and progressing even better than the doctors had hoped.
My wife has had a rough few days, but is doing very well today. I thank all of you for the thoughts, concerns and prayers. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts as we still have a few hurdles to overcome.

buffbrown, my grandson was delivered 5 1/2 weeks early, he was in the NIC unit for 3 weeks & then moved to a regular room for another week before going home. within a year he had moved to the upper percentile of all areas of growth & development. now he is a very athletic and smart 4 year old.i'll continue to pray for you and your family.

[pumping4life]

Sounds like some scarey stuff, Buff, but progressing well now. I hope for the best for the whole family. Tiny, huge, early or late, that bundle will be a lot of joy.

[Cleveland33]

Hey guys,
A quick update on my situation.
My wife had severe preeclampsia and was forced to deliver the baby on Friday, April 13. This means that he came 6 weeks early. He was 3 lbs and 1.9 ounces. Obviously, he is stuck in the NICU for a while (doctors estimate a minimum of 2 weeks). All that said, he is breathing on his own (which was a major concern) and progressing even better than the doctors had hoped.
My wife has had a rough few days, but is doing very well today. I thank all of you for the thoughts, concerns and prayers. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts as we still have a few hurdles to overcome.

They have made great strides in the care of preemie babies since we were kids; six weeks early and born on Friday the 13th - that'll be a great story to tell him one day.

Stay strong, you're all gonna get through this just fine.

[buffbrown21]

I thank you guys all so much. I truly appreciate your concerns and comments. My wife may come home tomorrow and she was finally able to hold the baby last night (which helped her emotionally a lot).

[Hishiad]

Congratz buff, I was early myself from under 6 lbs to 260+ and 6'2"....he will be sack QBs in no time

God Bless man

[Northernmoris]

EDIT: starting new thread


What do you guys think? I'm not sure atm what size tube to use. Will be rack able, 7' with 15" of plate room per side. Handles centered @ 6",14"24".. Feedback please..

[pumping4life]

I don't have any cool trail photos, but I went for a ride along the Mississippi River with my son yesterday.



Right after that big puddle, he had splatter marks all the way up his back. That gave me a few chuckles.

[KBKB]

I don't have any cool trail photos, but I went for a ride along the Mississippi River with my son yesterday.

Good photos.

Brings back memories of teaching my son and daughter to ride. Looks like your son might be off of both training wheels in that first photo.

[4MEandThem]

Buff,
You have been through alot lately. Glad to hear things are looking up. I can't wait for some pics from the first birthday.(or sooner)

[cgc]

I thank you guys all so much. I truly appreciate your concerns and comments. My wife may come home tomorrow and she was finally able to hold the baby last night (which helped her emotionally a lot).

Good news man, that's awesome...seriously.
I don't know how most of you guys are...my wife and I may tease each other more than we should, but I'd be a liar if I said it wouldn't be home if she wasn't there.

Glad she was able to hold your son as well. I couldn't imagine having to wait this long.
Hopefully both your wife and son will be home soon.

Right after that big puddle, he had splatter marks all the way up his back. That gave me a few chuckles.

I saw this picture and thought to myself, 'Yep, I'd head strait for the puddle too"....lol.
Ah, I miss being a kid.

[Cleveland33]

I saw this picture and thought to myself, 'Yep, I'd head strait for the puddle too"....lol.
Ah, I miss being a kid.

you want to feel like a kid?

Next time you're at a lake or pond, throw a rock in using your non-throwing arm.
Guaranteed results.

[JJ-]

I don't have any cool trail photos, but I went for a ride along the Mississippi River with my son yesterday.

.

How old is your son? My 3yr old has a tricycle but just can't get a grasp of pedaling. I admit I don't have the best patience teaching him but he is having a hard time. I was thinking about getting him a real bike with training wheels.

[cgc]

you want to feel like a kid?

Next time you're at a lake or pond, throw a rock in using your non-throwing arm.
Guaranteed results.

I always throw stuff with my left hand when I wanted to feel like a girl...it must be the rock in a pond/lake thing that makes you revert back to childhood.
I'll give it a try

How old is your son? My 3yr old has a tricycle but just can't get a grasp of pedaling. I admit I don't have the best patience teaching him but he is having a hard time. I was thinking about getting him a real bike with training wheels.

You could just do as we did and pick a battery powered 4-wheeler. Then you have the problem of said child mowing down all the animals in the house and ramming into the side of the car in the driveway.
But my daughter is just under 2yo also.

[KBKB]

I was thinking about getting him a real bike with training wheels.

I have a real dislike for training wheels. I think they may be okay to use for a day or two so that the kid can learn to pedal and brake. But beyond that, I think they do more harm than good.

The problem I have with them is that they do nothing to help the kid learn to balance and steer, which are closely connected. In fact, they not only do not help, but they teach precisely the wrong thing when it comes to steering.

When you want to turn your bike to the right, it does not work to just turn your handlebars to the right. This works with a car, a tricycle, and bikes with training wheels, but it does not work on a bicycle or motorcycle. What you must do to turn right is first turn the handlebars slightly left. This forces your weight to shift to the right, at which point you can turn the wheel to the right too to complete the turn. This is completely counter-intuitive and is something that must be learned. Most of us who ride bicycles do this without even knowing that we're doing it. It's called countersteering. If you want to practice conscious countersteering, push your handlebar forward and slightly down in the direction you want to go. It works amazingly well, especially in uncertain terrain.

Anyway, training wheels, if they're set high enough, force you to steer a bike like you would a car. The bike isn't permitted enough side to side motion to permit you to learn to balance or to steer. On a bike, steering and "balance" are closely connected. You do not balance on a bike the way you would when walking on a balance beam. You balance by making small steering corrections which shifts your weight so that you stay upright. Training wheels prevent you from being able to learn this skill.

For my kids, I tried raising the training wheels so that they would serve as safeties, hoping that they'd learn to ride properly but so that the training wheels would prevent them from falling over. It didn't work. Both of my kids just let the bike flop onto one or the other of the wheels and rode on what was essentially a tricycle. Once I saw this, I just took the training wheels off and spent a lot of time running along / beside the kid holding them up, hoping that they'd get the feel for the steering / balance thing. They eventually did, but it took longer than I would've liked.

An approach that I didn't know about at the time is to lower the seat way down and take off the pedals. This allows the kid to sit on the bike and propel it with his feet pushing against the ground. I've read that the kid learns how to steer / balance a lot quicker this way. If I had to do it over again, I'd give this a try first. I wouldn't even bother with training wheels at all.

[pumping4life]

Good photos.

Brings back memories of teaching my son and daughter to ride. Looks like your son might be off of both training wheels in that first photo.

How old is your son? My 3yr old has a tricycle but just can't get a grasp of pedaling. I admit I don't have the best patience teaching him but he is having a hard time. I was thinking about getting him a real bike with training wheels.

He's 6 1/2. He is completely capable of going w/o the training wheels, but his confidence is getting in the way.

What KBKB wrote above is an outstanding way of teaching a child to ride w/o training wheels. Lower the seat, take off the trainers and pedals. They have to use their feet to "scoot" and as they go faster they quickly get a sense of balance. Northern European countries have been using wooden-framed bikes like this for many years and there are all these little 3 and 4 year olds riding regular bikes. My daughter learned to ride a bike in 20 minutes this way. I tried it w/him, but the seat is a little too high when his feet are not on the pedals and he ends up on his tip-toes. This doesn't allow for great balance. It's a conundrum because the bike fits him perfectly for use w/pedals, but not for puttiong his feet on the ground.

[Cleveland33]

It's a conundrum because the bike fits him perfectly for use w/pedals, but not for puttiong his feet on the ground.

Actually it sounds like the bike doesn't fit him. He should be able to stand over the top bar and have his feet flat on the ground.

The seat will add some height to this, but he should have clearance between the top bar and his groin when standing.

[KBKB]

Actually it sounds like the bike doesn't fit him.

Fitting bikes (or even clothing) for kids is tricky. A bike that fits perfectly now might be too small in six to twelve months. Parents trying to stretch their dollars tend to get things a bit big knowing that the kid'll grow into them.

Looking at pumping4life's photos, the bike doesn't look too big. Once his son has more confidence, it does look like the saddle could even be raised a bit.

[Jimbo.]

I thank you guys all so much. I truly appreciate your concerns and comments. My wife may come home tomorrow and she was finally able to hold the baby last night (which helped her emotionally a lot).

Missed this... glad to hear it buff. You're in my thoughts bro.

I know I don't post as much as I used to but the equipment crew is the best bunch of dudes on this site. I wish we could all get together and drink a bunch of beer together lol

[JJ-]

I know I don't post as much as I used to but the equipment crew is the best bunch of dudes on this site. I wish we could all get together and drink a bunch of beer together lol

Agreed!


On the training wheels topic, never really heard of that but it does sound interesting and guess it really makes sense. I'm gonna go look at bikes this weekend and see if we can get him one. At what point do you put the pedals back on? Once they can coast for a ways?

[KBKB]

On the training wheels topic, never really heard of that but it does sound interesting and guess it really makes sense. I'm gonna go look at bikes this weekend and see if we can get him one. At what point do you put the pedals back on? Once they can coast for a ways?

Sounds right, though as I said earlier, I didn't know about that technique for my kids. Wish I would have because learning in 20 minutes sounds way better than the ordeal I went through with my kids.

I think you'll have to get a bike that's smaller than ideal so that your son will be able to reach the ground with the seat lowered all the way. If you can find one on Craigslist, that might be the way to go. A lot of parents are willing to basically give away those small bikes that kids quickly outgrow. I know we were.

[pumping4life]

Actually it sounds like the bike doesn't fit him. He should be able to stand over the top bar and have his feet flat on the ground.

The seat will add some height to this, but he should have clearance between the top bar and his groin when standing.

He does have enough clearance when he stands over the frame, it's just on the seat where he needs 2 more inches to his legs. That's where you need to be for the balance is on the seat.

Agreed!


On the training wheels topic, never really heard of that but it does sound interesting and guess it really makes sense. I'm gonna go look at bikes this weekend and see if we can get him one. At what point do you put the pedals back on? Once they can coast for a ways?

It's pretty obvious when you can put the pedals back on. They sit there with their feet in the air and keep their balance only putting the feet down to get more momentum. You shouldn't need to guess, you'll know.

[Cleveland33]

I'm sorry, I guess I'm not following. I am having a tough time envisioning this.

[KBKB]

I'm sorry, I guess I'm not following. I am having a tough time envisioning this.

The seat tube often extends a bit, perhaps an inch or so, over the top tube. When you add in the height of the saddle itself, you end up with the top of the saddle being several inches higher than the top tube, even when lowered all the way.

[ProtienandIron]

LoL, I never thought I would see the day that when training wheels would be discussed in the hardcore equipment crew thread.

Its nice to see so many proud fathers. I can't wait until my lad comes to cycling age.