Well I have to say that my sister and her family have entered into the coveted ranks of "cool aunt and uncle". Nathaniel received a big package last night which from Cedar Rapids, IA. After some phone calls we found out it was for his birthday from my Sister's family in Texas. Nathaniel poured over every side of the
Big Wheel box excitedly pointing out the full color picture of the little helmet clad boy astride the glorious machine. I assured Nathaniel that we could open the gift the following morning (file that under "some assembly required").
Dreamy eyed Nathaniel went to bed explaining to me that we would open his package in the morning. He has been a little under the weather these last few days and had a tendency to sleep in - not this morning. He knocked at our door just before 7 both he and Benjamin were up and smiling. It was that smile that says "I know and I can hardly wait".
I have to say I found myself envious while piecing together the 16" wheel of pure power.
This morning a friend pointed me to this site where even the 225 lb young at heart can put peddle to street. You can see the adult bike on the left. Click on the link above to see the rest of the bikes. There are a number of them all made for adults... Hmmm.... Can you picture that?
The only issue I have with the Big Wheel, both adult and child, is the obvious omission. No brake. Now why on earth would you take the brake away!!! The commercial alone was hinged on the brake and how cool it was to come to a sideways sliding stop in front of your friends. (click here to see the
TV commercial and here for the
radio commercial) I did an impromptu survey of some of the guys at the office and each one physically showed me why the brake was important. They cranked their arm on some imaginary lever and slid their body to one side making the obligatory sliding sound. Seems odd but alas my boys have no idea and only wanted to take the dream machine out on the road.
Some pictures and hopefully video of that will soon hit the web. Well there are no brakes at work either - which again proves my point. Before I post this
I also want to make sure to thank everyone that participated in some way in making Nathaniel's birthday special. He had a great week of phone calls, cake and presents. THANKS!
We all went to a parking lot with a slight incline to test out the Big Wheel and as you can see the experiment was well recieved. Nathaniel had a blast zipping down the parking lot some times peddling some times letting gravity take over and all the time using the curb as a stopping point! (thump!!!)
I'm on top of the world!!!
Can you see the speed demon in the background? Zipppp!!!! We have some great video!!! Ben enjoyed the trip as well although he did seem a bit envious at times...
and a bit sarcastic too. What could he be thinking here?
This is still frame from the video we took and is the only shot we got with both of them together. Ben sits idle, fascinated with his revolving yellow pedals, as Nathaniel flies away with a big grin. In between trying to eat sticks and cigarette butts, Ben watched his brother navigate the entire parking lot. It was a nice Saturday afternoon excursion - hope you enjoyed it too.
