We gots a new bike rider in da hizzous!

(Do I sound cool??? rofl!)

So Claire has been wanting us to take her training wheels off of her bike. No way! Not on this mountain we live on! Allison and Ethan learned to ride in the Flatlands...aka: Houston, TX. Here in SA, however, we live on a freakin' mountain, and no way were we gonna just let her go...down our street...to fly off the cliff...straight into the valley...to become a coyote snack!

Well, Sunday, she, Allison and one of Allison's friends where out riding bikes in the street. One of her training wheels came off, so, rather than come tell one of her adults, she just took off the other training wheel! (I'm tellin' ya, that girl can do anything!)

I *think* Allison held the seat of her bike for just a second so Claire could get her balance, then she just took off! A perfect bike rider! They come in and say, "Come look outside for a second." And there she was, out riding around the circle, getting up on the sidewalk, getting down off the sidewalk...up and down the mountain...a bike riding champ.

Of course, Ethan learned to ride as quickly as Claire did, but like I said, it was on totally flat ground. I think Steven had to hold Allison's bike and run with her twice, and the third time she took off and that was it.

Claire has perfect bike riding posture though. Always has, like it's a natural born gift. Even going up steep hills, she stands up, bends at the waist keeping her spine straight, and uses the muscles in her legs to keep climbing. She only moves from the hips down. We have never talked to the kids about that at all-it's just all natural for her. No wiggling her hips back and forth or any of that.... I think I'll head on up to Austin and have a talk with Lance. I'm sure he would love to train her, because he will know, like I do, that she will be the first woman to win the Tour de France.

And don't even get me started on how fast she can run! Y'all just thought Ethan was fast. Claire is like a flash...you see some color zoom by and feel the breeze that follows, and that's it. She's outrun 9 year old boys down a street and up a full flight of stairs to the front door of a house, and the closest one behind her was still down on the landing! I'm tellin' ya...the girl is gonna win a gold medal some day.