Friday April 13, 2007 was significant for a few reasons.  I was still on vacation, so I wasn’t working this day and I was looking for an excuse to do a bike ride somewhere.  It was also my oldest son Jonathan’s sixteenth birthday.  Jonathan already had his drivers permit and he had completed all his driving training requirements and he was anxious to get his official drivers license.  Ironically it was also exactly one year to the day when Jonathan last rode with me on his birthday last year to join the Rochester Hills PCT Bike and Hike Club. 

Jonathan was bugging both me and Diane to take him to the Secretary of State’s Office to get his drivers license.  I told him I would take him, but we had to ride our bikes.  Jonathan was so anxious he quickly agreed.   

I got down my old Sierra Madrid bike hanging from the ceiling in the garage as an extra bike for just these type occasions.  This back up bike isn’t the best, but certainly good enough for a short ride.  We went south on Adams to Walton where we headed east to Old Perch.  South on Old Perch to Avon where we turned west for the short distance to Crooks.  We headed south on Crooks for about a mile and a quarter to the Secretary of State’s office located in a shopping center on the west side of the street.  We parked our bikes outside and I locked them together while Jonathan went inside to get a number. 

We had to wait a few minutes before it was Jonathan’s turn.  I took a couple pictures of Jonathan with my phone camera to record this eventful day.  See the bottom of this page for the pictures I took this day.   

One of Jonathan’s friends Josh was also there doing the same thing.  I could tell by the look on Josh’s face he was jealous that he didn’t get to ride his bike to the Secretary of State’s office like we did.  Even though Jonathan complained about having to ride a bike to go get his drivers license at least he will have a story he can tell for the rest of his life.  I hope I don’t forget to give Max the same experience in a few years when it is his turn to go for his drivers license.  And, what would be really cool is if this is the start of a new family tradition that my children can pass on to their children when the time comes.  

We pretty much followed the reverse route to get back home.  It was a relatively short ride, but a pleasant ride none the less.  I always enjoy having company when going on a bike ride. 

We ended up riding 12.2 miles total, max speed 23.5, average speed 10.2 mph and 1 hour and 11 minutes of time on bikes.
David Lindquist