journal features

ken's new bike

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2014.06.22

I took Ken up to Cyclepath on Danforth and got him a new bike. It's got gears and hand-brakes, and it's immediately doubled his cycling speed. And he loves it.

They boy's new bike

The fellow in the store said that technically, Ken would fit a bike with 24" wheels, but I hesitated. The leap from 18" to 20" isn't much, but it's not nothing; the turn radius is larger, the thing requires more starting and stopping effort, it's much longer and requires that he lean forward over the frame. I want him to able to be comfortable and to have to adjust only along one dimension at a time. I reckon that the many upgrades to this stage will be enough.

Plus, the store has a policy of refunding 40% of the purchase price if the bike's returned in good condition within two years. He'll still be eight years old at that time, and much more ready for a 24" at that point. Which, after all, is only 2" shy of an adult's mountain bike.

rand()m quote

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

—Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.