Never Been Out of the Cul de Sac

LEESBURG, VIRGINIA

My grandsons haven’t been riding bikes long. So my daughter, Bethany, sort of freaked out when I told her I would take them on a 4-mile ride on the W&OD Trail. “They’ve never been out of the Cul de Sac” she said.

I tried the calming response. “They would be with me.” Didn’t help much.

But they all came around to it We met right off the trail at Simpson Circle near Clarks Gap. I sat down with the boys and gave them my safety talk. We will stop at stop signs. There are only three on this route but I would go into the intersection, wearing my neon-green safety vest, and stand while they crossed. Don’t cross the yellow line unless we have to pass a walker or runner and then I would go first.

Aiden, 6, went off first. He takes to riding like he does most things athletically. He is pretty good and you have to protect him from himself. Bethany said sarcastically “we are working on building his confidence.” Andy, 8, is a little unsteady on the bike. Maybe he resembles his mother in that respect as she was slow to learn and then unsteady. That’s why we abandoned our ride ride half way down Cadillac Mountain when she was nine years old.

After a mile we came to a little uphill portion at Clarks Gap. Andy walked it. His seat was way too low and I adjusted it so he could get some power from his legs. Then we began the downhill.

This is a three mile stretch that goes to Leesburg. Some pedaling is necessary though but it’s easy pedaling. We stayed in our lines the entire way down. The trail isn’t crowded at this point and the few people who passed us generally encouraged the boys.

We reached Catoctin Circle where Bethany was waiting for us. Then we went to lunch at Andy’s Pizza in Leesburg. Both boys said it was too easy and they wanted to ride more. Good boys!