While this video may be somewhat repetitive, it shows control, patience and progression. All pretty good traits to be had by a 4 year old if you ask me. Just as he does on the track in our back yard, Cz takes care not to over-ride his ability or skill level. While I'm very (very) impressed with how he's progressed in the last few months, I'm even more impressed that he is still careful.

Is he still careful because he's afraid? Maybe. But he hasn't really had an accident. Yet. There's only one time (aside from the crash into the power box and the crash into the bushes on the electric quad, which probably don't count as they were nearly two and three years ago), that he's even come close to a crash. That was when he was showing off in front of a couple of girls. Older girls, of course. They were watching him ride last summer on the gas quad, and he was going slow and cautious as usual. One of them asked if he could go any faster, and he did. He came around Oak Bend (a tight, off-camber right hander) and almost lost control. He didn't crash, but he came off the seat, and that scared him.

Since then, he's gone back to being more cautious, and I've spent a lot of time riding with him, and a lot of time talking with him. (Notice I didn't say talking to him, or talking at him. Kids, like most people, don't like to be lectured.) I'm not saying he doesn't take chances, last week he was riding in the back yard coming around the keyhole when he came up on two wheels while turning. He didn't seem bothered by it much, in fact, during our talk after the ride, he asked me "did you see me bicycle in that turn, dad?" "Yes, I did. You handled it well, son. Do you know why you bicycled it?" I asked. "Yeah" he said matter-of-factly, "I was going too fast." "That's right, son. You handled it very well."

So here's the video of him on a track at the desert. It's basically an oval track with whoops in the straights. A pretty typical track. He starts off the first few laps at a reasonable speed, then starts picking it up a bit as he gets used to it, and as he gets used to the whoops.