Off-road attitude

When we went on vacation earlier this month, Chris loaded our son's new mountain bike on the roof of the van.
"What's she gonna ride?" I asked, thinking of our daughter, who, as we just discovered, has outgrown her 16" girlie bike.
"I dunno. We don't have a bike for her."
"Can she try Peter's old bike?"
So, fifteen minutes before we went on the road, with the car already loaded to a bursting point, we had Nadia try  her brother's mountain bike.
"That'll do" we said, after giving her a crash course in hand brake and grip-shifter operation.
Later, at the lakeside cabin Chris unsuccessfully lobbied our son and his friend to join him on an off-road expedition to the lighthouse. But Nadia was more than eager to accompany dad on her "new" bike.

Here is all the special gear this 7-year-old needed for her first four-mile off-road romp:

• 6-speed kid's mountain bike (hers was a 20" wheel Jamis bike, a few years old)
• helmet
• one-piece bathing suit from Target (two-piece would be practical for trail-side calls of nature)
• nylon board shorts (unlined, unpadded) from Old Navy
• "mock-crocs"

The one thing we really should have outfitted her with was her own water pack. She drank more than half of dad's water. That's how we knew the two-piece swimsuit would have been a better choice.