My son borrowed my daughters Skuut for a few weeks in the late summer and it made all the difference when he attempted to ride his big boy bike. Now a couple months have passed and it is getting harder and harder to convince him that he needs to be in the bike trailer with his sister.

“But Mom, I can use my coaster break and I don’t fall off my bike anymore,” he pleads.

I try to tell him he isn’t old enough to ride to the grocery store. After all, he is only five. We have friends that didn’t start riding a bike until they were almost in middle school (some of them actually were in middle school).

So, we started these small trips. Instead of just letting him ride from one end of the block to the other, he can ride to the cookie store or to the Chinese grocer.

Now, those little trips to get soy sauce aren’t enough.

So, we took his bike to the park and let him ride the bike trail. He rode seven miles. SEVEN MILES! We only left because it was getting dark and neither me nor my husband had lights with us. He rode his bike up and down the block when we got home.

Yesterday, he convinced his father to take him to Cherokee Street Bikes since daddy needs a new bottom bracket. He only had one crash, and daddy had three. I guess it’s hard to pedal behind a five year old when you have cycling shoes on your feet.

Sometimes when it gets too dark to ride on the sidewalk outside, I let him ride on our trainer. He loves the trainer. He pretends he is doing a sprint workout and that I am his coach. He refuses to call me mom at these times.

He told me yesterday that riding his bike was his favorite thing to do, ever.

He always lists riding his bike as his favorite thing of the day. It’s a good day if he biked.

However, it’s December and it is only going to get colder. How can I help him with his love of cycling when, hopefully, there is snow on the ground?