Head Tale

Pace took a couple friends camping this past weekend.  At one point, he asked if they could ride out to the lookout near our site and take their bikes down the hill.

I interpreted this to mean “Down the little dirt path to the point just beyond the lookout” but he took it to mean “no, ride them all the way down a very steep valley hill!”

After the boys were gone for a *very* long time, I went on my bike to investigate.  I got close and saw a bunch of boys on a large monument and thought “Oh, they’re just hanging out.”

I almost turned back but thought, “Hmm, those didn’t look like our boys.  Plus I think I saw four, not three.”

So I go closer to investigate.  “Did you guys see another group of kids on bikes?”

“Yeah, they rode down the hill.”

“To the point?”

“No, down the hill.”

I go down the dirt path, still hoping to find them somewhere near the top of the valley.  I find Pace’s bike (the photo is from after I moved it back to the lookout, not the point where I found it) and think “Oh, at least he was the only smart one.”

I start down the steep path (hard enough to walk down and I can’t imagine riding a bike down, even if I was ten!) and find the boys about half way down trying to push one of their bikes up.

Turns out they had all rode down part way then walked their bikes (including Pace’s) the rest of the way but then realised they had to get them back up the hill.  They’d managed to get Pace’s up first (er, wasn’t as smart as I hoped!), another kid’s was halfway up when I found them and one was at the bottom of the hill.

“Go back down and I’ll go get Grandpa’s truck and come pick you up there.”

I retrieve Pace’s bike and put it where it’s pictured above then ride my bike back to the camp to explain what happened.  We grab a few bottles of water and go to pick up the boys.

When we get to them, they’re drenched in sweat (oh, it’s about +29 on top of everything) and admit they thought they were in trouble but funny enough, Grandpa Dennis and I had chatted on the drive down that we would both have probably done the same thing at their age.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea – later that weekend, I bumped into a friend who was into riding snowmobiles and motorcycles in high school and he said him and a buddy also rode down that hill when they were around the same age.  They actually rode, not walked, their bikes and made it to the bottom but right at the bottom, his friend wiped out and broke his collarbone and got road rash all over his body!

Luckily, we were able to keep Pace’s two friends in one piece the entire weekend *and* give them a story which I suspect will become quite legendary by the time they return to school in the fall!