I've often mentioned that my diabetes role models in someways mirror the "dos" and "don'ts" of "proper (Type 2) diabetes management". When we are presented with a "what not to do" scenario taken from a real person, in real life, we often call that an "object lesson". 

While our original plans for last Sunday were to head into the City (New York City, for those who care) to meet up with other members of the Diabetes Online Community, the combination of short finances and The Other Half's ongoing issues with foot pain and the aftermath of his sciatica attack made those plans a "no-go".

Meanwhile, one of the greatly-underused resources of my bicycle's manufacturer, Specialized, is its "Specialized Riders Club". While it doesn't have forums in the manner of dLife.com, cycling fitness sites such as MapMyRide.com, or even pro-cycling-enthusiast sites such as cyclingnews.com, it does provide a way of finding riders, rides, and events close by. A member in a neighboring community had posted last year about needing volunteers for a "Training Wheel Toss" -- an event in which children are taught to ride without training wheels. (As many of you who learned to ride "two-wheelers" when you were young may remember, getting one's training wheels off is a Big Event.) I had commented his post, expressing interest if such an event would be held again this year. As it turns out, it was scheduled for last Sunday. Our change of plans with respect to commuting in to Manhattan meant that I could spend a few hours helping children learn to have fun on two wheels.

The site was about five miles from home. I took the back-roads route suggested by Google Maps, preferring not to deal with known high-traffic roads and figuring to "go at my own pace" -- that is, not to worry about my speed, cadence, or any of the other things that suggest "training" rather than "commuting". As it turned out, the route was a bit more challenging than expected, with twists, turns, and rises that tasked me a lot more than they should have. Route cues that pointed me in the direction of roads that seemed not to exist didn't help matters any. After six and a half miles of travel, I arrived on site about a half-hour late.

My task for the day was "helmet check". All the children were required to wear helmets (it's not just a safety and liability issue -- it's also New Jersey state law). Many fussed as we adjusted them to sit correctly on the head, fit snuggly around the head's circumference, adjust the harnesses about the ears, and tighten down the chin straps. To be honest, some of the adjustment mechanisms on those cycling helmets left a lot to be desired -- but with them riding at low speeds, in a restricted paved area, with adults accompanying them at all times, the probability of needing that level of protection was pretty low. We did the best we could, advised the parents on how to readjust the helmets as the children grew, and advised the parents if their child's helmet needed replacing.

I'm not sure how effective the object lesson was (it might have been more effective if I'd kept my helmet on all day) -- this gray-haired woman old enough to be these kids' grandma telling them, "The reason you need to keep it tight is you don't want it to fall off if you fall. I'm a grown-up, and I always ride with a helmet. See these bumps and bruises on my arm? They're from a crash I had about a week and a half ago. It was bad enough that I had to go to the Emergency Room. Can you imagine how much worse I'd have been hurt if I was not wearing a helmet?"

I think the parents were more impressed than the kids... of course when I explained the route, velocity, and conditions of the crash, they understood it was not something likely to happen to a six-year-old -- but if it keeps the kids in properly-adjusted helmets when they're on the road, and keeps everyone mindful of safety and aware of all road users... I guess there was a "reason" for that crash, after all.