When you give a boy a bike

If you give a boy a bike, he will want to go fast.

You’ll buy him the best bike you can find, and then he will need a helmet, gloves and shoes too.

Then, he will probably spend hours begging you to take him to the track, even though you may want to sit on the couch and watch tv. He will insist. And his insistence will win.

And when a boy gets a jersey, he will need pants and socks to go with it. And a TEAM…..

And then life as you know it will end.

There will be no more lazy weekends watching tv. You will see more sunrises than you ever thought possible. Every spare minute of your time will be spent hauling coolers and tents and this crazy boy all over tarnation for hours to practice for a race.
THE RACE.

And your house will be a mess. And your car will be dirty. All because you gave a boy a bike.

Your weekends will be spent freezing or burning to death on a fold up chair. And his weekends will be spent gaining confidence and friends, and learning new skills and having fun and getting dirty.

And you will be there the day he makes his first transfer, first podium, first win. And he will make you SO proud. The other parents will congratulate you. But you feel weird saying thank you because it's not you on the track, it’s him. It's everything him. He did this.

And right before your eyes, your little boy will be transformed from the baby who spun around on his training wheels into an expert.

When you give a boy a bike , you give him more than just something to ride. You give him a sport, and a talent, and hope, and dreams, and friends, a new family, a place to learn about life, room to grow as a person where he can push his limits, and bravery, and courage and LIFE, and memories. And he will have ALL of these things, simply because you gave a boy a bike.

Because you gave a boy a bike, you too will develop new/lifelong friendships, developed solely from the same passion for the sport. You will root together. And spew PG-13 things out of your mouths together. Because you gave a boy a bike.

Then one day, many years from today….he will be in his room and a certain trophy will catch his eye. And he will pick it up and realize instantly that when you gave that boy a bike, you also gave him a childhood that he would never forget. And then he will hug you, and your eyes may leak – because you realize that everything YOU gave up along the way…..was worth it!

All because you gave a boy a bike