Lean to make it move, Thumper had said. It's like a motorcycle, Thumper had said. Lean left to go left, lean right to go right, Thumper had said.
About ten minutes on the Trikke, and I decided Thumper was full of shit.
I leaned left, I leaned right, and that damned thing didn't budge. I pushed started, jumped on, and leaned left and then right, and it came to a rolling stop.
Alex, the shit, looked it over, jumped on, and took off. And when I tried to get him to tell me how, he launched into a mathematical explanation involving angles and axis that, frankly, hurt my head. When he was done showing off his brain, I sighed, In English, and he barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes and said, Turn the wheel a little as you lean.
He showed me in slowish motion, and something clicked.
I managed to move that sumbitch about ten feet before it stopped.
By the time Char threatened to leave for dinner without us, I think I was going up and down the street at a reasonable pace, even if I did look stupid doing it.
Today, I managed to ride it almost two miles, and might have gone longer but rain rolled in and the wind picked up, which meant putting it away.
Char bought two Trikkes for my birthday, knowing I would want company. And she was right; this is something fun we can do together. So today she rolled hers outside, asked me to explain and then show her, and dammit she got on and took off.
Lean and skate, she said.
Yeah.
I remember when she couldn't skate for shit; she'd never even been on skates when we were dating, and I can't skate to save my life, but I managed to keep upright and teach her the basics.
Now, she's taking those principles and making me look bad.
But I don't mind, not really.
I am going to make the Trikke my bitch.
Eventually.
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