A New Bike For Naia

There’s a quote I heard a long time ago that goes something like, "The hardest part of raising kids is teaching them to ride a bike. A child learning to ride a bicycle needs both support and freedom — and the realization that this is what they’ll always need is actually a parent’s biggest lesson.”
Bikes have always been a huge part of our family life — a result of our early years in Copenhagen when we didn’t have a car. Back then, Dorthe and I relied almost exclusively on pedaling the kids around the city — which is one of the most bicycle-friendly places in the world.
But Key West is also a great biking town, so we happily carried on that tradition over the past decade. Through the years, many birthdays have included a bike as the “big” gift. If you swipe through the photos, you’ll notice that almost none of them were “new” bikes. I’ve found or fixed up dozens of old classics, because as the kids keep growing there’s always a demand — and well, they really don’t make ‘em like they used to. Old bikes are honestly just way more solid than new bikes.
But today might have been the last time I’ll have needed to gift a birthday bike due to the old one getting too small.
Today, Naia turned 11 and considering she’s grown almost a foot in the past year, the time had come for an upgrade to a full-sized bike. So I fixed up an old Italian classic that had made the journey from Copenhagen more than 10 years ago. It had been collecting dust and rust in backyards, studios, and garages from Stock Island to Bahama Village, but I always knew it would be perfect for her one day.
And today was that day.
I realized this “new” bike was probably a touch too big for her, so this afternoon, I brought her to the old soccer fields down the street and — just like I had done all those years ago — convinced her that she could ride this bike, too.
Hesitant by nature, Naia was worried that she couldn’t balance the big bike, so to start I ran next to her, gently touching her shoulder while she built momentum, then talked her through using a hand brake since all of her bikes to date have been coaster brakes.
After a few near topples trying to reach her foot to the ground while slowing to a stop — and at least a handful of “I don’t want to do this anymore, it’s too big for mes”, she made a perfect stop and dismount on the soft grass and was — all of a sudden — excited to ride all the way back home on the street.
Her brother would have happily laughed off fifteen falls and near-death crashes (see slide 9) but Naia is entirely more calculated.
Upon arrival home — without a single issue — she showed her signature “proud Naia” smile as Kristian lumbered out the front door to meet us on the porch while asking about getting birthday Blizzards at DQ. This, of course, was code for, “can I drive the truck to get us ice cream?”
So yes, in the span of two weeks, we’ve upgraded the little, hesitant one to a full-sized “new” old bike, and the older, carefree one with a new learner’s permit to an ‘84 Ford F-150.
And here I am today, reliving that ever-so-poignant quote on a few levels these days, folks…