Oliver’s Last Stand

Oliver in Bike TrailerThree years ago, when Oliver was five, we took a trip to the Farmer’s Market by bicycle and trailer.  Yesterday, with Oliver seemingly soon to be an adult, I figured it was time to see if he would squeeze into the trailer one last summer.  And he did, barely.

This time around we rented from Smooth Cycle: $25 a day for chariot rental, with capable, if not overly effusive service.  From Smooth Cycle on University Avenue we headed over to Walthen Drive, and then up through the new school sports fields behind Kent Building Supplies, to the Confederation Trail, and up the trail to the Farmer’s Market.

Oliver’s about 20 pounds heavier now that he’s eight, and more than a foot taller, so he didn’t have a lot of room to move around in the chariot, and I had to work 33% harder to move us along, but I managed.

After a stop at the market we headed up the trail to the Charlottetown Mall, in back of Zellers where we stashed the gear behind the A&W and walked across the street to Staples to browse their Nintendo DS games.

Suitably rested, and equipped with a new copy of Petz 2, it was back down the trail — with the wind at our back this time — and, after a few stops, on to Tai Chi Gardens for lunch. By the time we were done lunch we both needed a nap, so we dropped the chariot off at Smooth Cycle and walked home.

Next step: get Oliver on a bicycle of his own.

Comments

oliver's picture
oliver on August 15, 2009 - 00:35 Permalink

What about one of those tag-alongs that you hitch to your bike, making it a sort of tandem?