Were Bikes Invented...

I took the kids out for a bike ride this afternoon and as were were tying shoes, finding helmets and trying to get out the door we had a little conversation about biking. This comes on the heels of Archer receiving a new tire for his bike because the old one was about to pop, it was so worn from skidding when he stops.

Arch     Mom, did you ever have your bike tire replaced when you were a kid?
Me       Maybe, I don't know.
Arch     So you didn't skid?
Me       No, not as much as you. But that's ok, its what boys do. You can't help it.
Arch     Did Dad skid on his bike?
Me       I don't know, you'll have to ask him.
Arch     Wait, did Dad even have a bike? Were bikes invented when Dad was a kid?
Me       (Laughing) YES bikes were invented!
Arch     They were invented in 1983 when Dad was a kid?
Shelly    Yeah, back in the olden days, did they have bikes?
Me       (Laughing lots) 1983 is the olden days??
Arch     You know, way back when? They had bikes then?

I was laughing too hard to continue the conversation, Shelly's shoes were on and I wrestled my bike out of the garage and we took off. At the end of the ride Archer and I had a race, with Shelly as the judge at the finish line to pronounce the winner. It was close, with Archer leading for moments and me ahead at other moments but the end was too close to call... Shelly announced a tie and we all came in for supper.

As I recounted the story to David later, Archer changed his story and said that he meant 1938, not 1983. Either way, I'm pretty sure they had bikes back then, when ever it was.