Early encouragement from Mama

Thus far in this story we haven’t really talked about Finn’s mom Nina much. On the occasion of Mother’s Day, she deserves a belated tribute. While two-wheeled talk and moto adventure has inspired a lot of eye rolls because her passions generally lie elsewhere, we have shared a strong family love of the outdoors. So Finn’s bicycling has fit in well with our camping, hiking, and time outside gardening. Also, her line of work and commitment to being a highly active parent for Finn has allowed her to provide lots of opportunities for him to grow in bicycling. A couple times a week, she sends me vids of Finn’s epic off-road bicycle adventures. 

We share concerns about the problems with modern youth sports. Perhaps with youth BMX, we’re headed down a similar path to the same destination as we would with soccer or baseball. We’ll just have to see. 

Nina is far more skilled (and patient) than I am as a parent and coach. She has honed these skills through her career as a professional dog trainer shaping the behaviors of pets and their owners through positive reinforcement. She gives Finn ample freedom of movement and exploration on outings, allowing him to learn and experience by doing. He’s not naturally fearless like you see with some bicycle prodigies. But he does test the boundaries of his comfort zone with the help of her constant encouragement. 

Finn was mostly nonverbal until relatively recently. He learned sign language from his mama and grandmother Noche (a semi-retired speech therapist). He never seemed to have trouble with comprehension, just verbal expression. But now, his vocabulary is exploding daily, so it’s been great to see that verbal communication manifest in his passion for bicycling, his self-narration of the riding conditions and circumstances, and genuine excitement about all of it. We are experiencing the world and growing as a family behind handlebars and loving all of it. Nina has been super supportive of Finn’s adventures and patient with my aspirations to dive into BMX racing. Hopefully, our loving teamwork as parents (each bringing different perspectives and skills to the table) will help balance and develop Finn in his bicycle pursuits.