Outdoor Adventure Time!, Tuesday, period 1

[vdistinctive]

Class met at the Portalocity office, today, where Eliot and Parker waited.

"So we're gonna do somethin' slightly different, today," Eliot said, bouncing ever so slightly on his toes. God, but he loved having two functional legs. "Basically a field trip."

“We’ll be grabbing water, sunscreen, snacks and so on when we get there,” Parker added, looking pretty buzzed. “Hurry up! Last one through winds up in Budapest!”

"That's not true." Eliot really hoped it wasn't true, he was going to take the end of the line and he never much liked Budapest. "Parker, no sending anyone to Budapest!"

Parker snickered. Eliot, you just stay easy.

When they got through the portal, they’d find themselves at the beginning of the Virginia Creeper Trail, with mountain bikes, safety equipment, and extra supplies waiting.

"Welcome to the Virginia Creeper Trail," Eliot said. "One of the longest continuous biking trails around. It's got somethin' for everyone, nice scenery, historic railroad bridges, some easy rides -- and some sharp downhills for you speed demons."

“Okay! Whoever has never ridden a bike before, stick with Eliot. He’ll help you out.” She gave them her most manic grin. “If you have, super. Get set up!”

"That includes helmets!" Eliot noted, giving Parker a pointed look. "For everyone, regardless of skill level. Trust me, you don't want a concussion. They suck a lot."

“If they crack their skull open, they’ll learn,” Parker said with a snort.

"Or they'll die and you'll be sad." They should maybe not talk about students dying. "Which is way less likely to happen if you all follow directions and wear a goddamn bike helmet. It ain't dorky if everyone's doin' it."

Comments

Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

With Eliot, for the newbies (he has some adult-rated training wheels, just in case), or Parker, for those who want to forge on ahead.

Eliot also has some 101 type info on biking etiquette. Such as the proper way to signal your intent to pass someone ahead of you on the trail. (Hint: it's not shouting "GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU OLD BAT!")

Re: Ride a bike!

[spin_kick_snap]

"Do we really have to use these?" Kathy asked, eyeing the adult training wheels with something between disdain and dubiousness. "I mean, if we don't know how to ride a bike already?"

Re: Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

"Nah," Eliot said. "I've just got 'em in case anyone can't nail the balance. Pretty sure you'll do fine."

Re: Ride a bike!

[spin_kick_snap]

"Is that what riding a bike is all about?" Kathy asked. "Balance? That shouldn't be that bad..."

She had a couple of benefits in that regard.

Re: Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

"Well, that and pushing yourself forward with the pedals. For most people, doing the one helps with the other."

Re: Ride a bike!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Yelling "OUT OF THE WAY YOU OLD BAT" was perfectly reasonable when someone was taking up the whole bike path. Sheesh.

Re: Ride a bike!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"WHEEEE!"

... Yes, that was about the tall and short of it today. 'Whee.' Because yay, biking! Mabel loved going fast, okay? Going fast? Was pretty much the best thing!

Re: Ride a bike!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Trying doing this," Parker said at one point. She stood up in the pedals and jumped up and down, making the bike bounce. Very useful for rocks!.. also just bouncing.

Re: Ride a bike!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

PARKER THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA. ENCOURAGING MABEL? TERRIBLE IDEA.

"Ohmygosh! That's so awesome!" Mabel stood up on her pedals too, and gave a little hop. True to form, the bike bounced as she did so, and only wobbled a little bit along the way. "Half bike, half rabbit! Mabel Pines has tamed the wild babbit!!"

Re: Ride a bike!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Which you have to do in order to tame the downhill rocks!"

What? SHE WAS HELPING. SHE WAS THE TEACHER AND SHE WAS TEACHING, NARRATIVE. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Re: Ride a bike!

[soniaroadsqueen]

Well, Ringo had ridden a bike before.

You know, a normal bike. They weren't really renowned for their top speeds. So while Ringo was normally a huge fan of speed, and also generally comfortable going fast on two wheels, today called for a much slower start.

She didn't notice herself accelerating as the day wore on.

Re: Ride a bike!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker came zooming by, then looping back. "You doing okay?" she checked. "No problems with your bike?"

Re: Ride a bike!

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I think so," Ringo said, sounding only a little unsure of herself. "I just don't know what all the things on this bike do." Those were called gears, Ringo.

Re: Ride a bike!

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Those?" Parker asked, pointing at the gear shift mechanism. "Those are for slowing down or speeding up how fast you're pedaling, without stopping. If you're going uphill, you want to pedal more, right?" She pointed to the setting on her own bike. "It moves the chain on the chain-rings (http://www.bicycling.com/training/fitness/basics-bike-shifting), down there on the wheels. There's different levels. First gear for the slowest, say, uphill. So your chains on the big part of the cog. Smaller for when you wanna go faster, that's like, fifth gear." She showed Ringo how she moved the levers on the gear-shift. "You can try it, if you want."

Re: Ride a bike!

[notamascot]

Bikes? Nope. Kaylin had no idea how to work one of these things. She watched the other students to get an idea, but good gods! Who ever thought that balancing on two rubber wheel things was a good idea?

Re: Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

"Need any help figurin' out what's what?" Eliot asked.

Re: Ride a bike!

[notamascot]

"Just in understanding how you keep these things from falling over," she said.

Re: Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

"Balance and speed," Eliot said. "Or trainin' wheels if you're not sure you'll get the balance right, yet."

Re: Ride a bike!

[not_a_moonie]

Alana was another one who didn't really know how to ride a bike, but she wasn't too proud to go for training wheels. She grabbed a bike equipped with them and went off down the trail.

Slowly.

Re: Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

Eliot kept pace with her for a bit to make sure she was doing alright with it. "Looks like you're getting the hang of things."

Re: Ride a bike!

[not_a_moonie]

"I'm trying," Alana laughed, with a fast wobble as her bike almost went off the trail. "I never really learned to do this at home."

*facepalm* as the mun remembers a flashback showing they very much do have bikes in the sagaverse, der.

Re: Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

That doesn't mean Alana had to have used one!

"I had a feeling we'd have a few who didn't," Eliot said. "And it ain't like you see a lot of bikes around Fandom. But we wanted an activity everyone could do regardless of skill level or adrenaline addiction, and Parker ain't a fan of horses."

If he ever had to run one of these solo, though, the class was absolutely going horseback riding.

Re: Ride a bike!

[wildandbrave]

. . . no, Cosette wasn't above the training wheels, at least for this first time out. And she was too nice to yell anything like "GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU OLD BAT."

She'd phrase it a lot more diplomatically, if she were to yell anything out loud. Which she didn't; she just followed the rules on how to signal her intent to pass. And yelled the diplomatically-worded version of the sentiment inside her own head.

Re: Ride a bike!

[vdistinctive]

"Lookin' good, Cosette!" Eliot said. "Nice use of the etiquette."

Re: Ride a bike!

[wildandbrave]

"I'm trying," Cosette called. "I'm not so used to this yet that I can be sure not to knock someone else over trying to pass them without enough warning!"

And then she'd feel awful about it, and stop to help them, but she'd still rather avoid that in the first place.