Now that's special

"Two, three, four, good" encourages his dad as his 18 year old son shifts gears on their side by side tandem bike.

Eighteen, wow has it been fifteen years since I first met their autistic son in our preschool?  He came to our class as a three year old with big brown eyes and a mullet of long dark curls. He has since grown into a handsome teenager who stands over 6 feet tall weighing at least 300 pounds and, despite his age and size, he is still a huge fan of Thomas the train.

The husband and I were privileged to ride bikes with our friend and his boy. We were able to witness first hand how this father and son team trains for the Special Olympics. We met them at the park and I watched them unload the bike and prepare themselves. Working in unison like a synchronized swimming team, they put on their jackets, helmets and placed their water bottles in the proper place. When they were all set and ready, they climbed on their bike and sat side by side.

                                                             
The bike has two handle bars and two sets of pedals a set of brakes and gears. Our friend controls the brakes and steering while his son changes gears and assists in the pedaling. I was so excited to watch this team of draft horses ride but to make it fair the husband had to pull his own weight equal to theirs. He's all about fairness so he loaded up some bricks behind his trailer.

                                             
Our path lead us around a lake and as I was enjoying the fall scenery, out of the blue something whizzed in front of me. Come to find out it was a toy train being hurled in to the water. I learned this is no ordinary lake, underneath the water lies a collection of Thomas the train engines and cars. Why this Special Olympian does this? No one really knows, maybe he's paying tribute to the lake by sacrificing his prize possessions but if  it was ever to get drained, they would curiously find a graveyard of trains lying at the bottom.

The ceremonial lake

                                         

                                           
We rode 8 miles under an hour, pretty good time for the pedaling duo. It was such an honor and a pleasure to accompany them on their ride. Our friend was just as pleased to have his son experience riding in a social setting contrary to race day, which is all about passing the next person.

Not often do I get the opportunity to see our preschool youngsters in their teenage years let alone ride along side one that's an incredible athlete. So even though he has the blue ribbons hanging on the wall, the ride for the husband and I was worth it's weight in gold.