A friend at work sent me a set of pictures or adults riding Big Wheels down Lombard St. Incredible! Incredible! Incredible! Like walking around Toys-R-Us and getting on a tricycle…or just watching a five year old race around the store…the memories come flooding in—and the grin on one’s face is from a deeply held conviction that joy is one’s fuel. To retain that joyous wonder of childhood…of self-propelling yourself through aisle ways, avoiding the glares of people who should never enter toy stores (because…they just don’t get the value of it!!!)…that sense of being—of being in the here and now—light and alive…wonderful. If I had known such a race existed I would have entered Frederick into it-- he is Mr. Big Wheel.
We met Freddie while he was riding his Big Wheel around the complex. Not a “Hello”, but a “Watch me, watch me” and he would pedal as hard as he could with a huge smile on his face and zoom around and around the complex. There was nothing more exciting—nothing better than Frederick riding his Big Wheel…I wish he still had it to hang from the ceiling of his bedroom…a reminder that in one should never lose that exuberance in living.
That was his favorite activity when he was four and Steve and I have looked every year for an adult sized big wheel to buy him. We found one this year…but too late for Xmas. I found the following web pages related to the race…and the sheer sense of joy…the willingness to put yourself out there decades later to experience all over again that thing that brought such happiness to your world…this is what life is about.
http://laughingsquid.com/2006/04/13/big-wheel-race-down-lombard-street/
http://www.jonbrumit.com/byobw.html
http://www.recursiveirony.com/byobw/
http://www.geekentertainment.tv/2006/04/19/bring-your-own-big-wheels/
http://snarkmarket.com/blog/snarkives/gleeful_miscellany/big_wheelin/
This race takes place each Easter…you just show-up and participate. I’m not sure if a 6’6” 220lb (probably how big he will be in a little under a year) kid can fit on a Big Wheel…but we’ll figure it out.
Adult sized Big Wheel sites:
http://www.bigwheelrally.com/store/adult.htm
http://www.uncrate.com/men/gear/toys/adult-big-wheel-000652.php