A week off, bonding over bikes.

July 23rd, 2026

Its the end of July and that can only mean one thing; the start of six weeks of school holidays. As a father of a high school kid I get to use my annual leave to cover a couple of these weeks.

I usually plan a lot of things to do over these weeks, and then feel like a failure after not doing any of them. However, this time I've not planned anything and taken things day by day. It helps that my son is a teenager now and doesn't want to do much (at least, not with his dad!).

We've done a few things though. He's into mountain biking and so we've been over to Sandwell Valley bike park. Funny story; we got there after a 45 minute drive, unpacked the bike, then realised he'd left the axel bar for his front wheel at home, so we drove all the way back to pick it up, then back again. I don't mind; its one of those things you laugh about later.

Speaking of mountain bikes, I've been given a crash course in how much bikes have changed since I was a kid in the 80s riding a BMX. Brakes are now hydraulic, gears are a thing complete with their own nuances in adjusting and maintaining, and don't get me started on tubeless tyres. And the whole thing is SO expensive now.

Still, I'm learning a lot about bike maintenance and it gives us something we can do together. I'm very aware that boys and their dads can drift apart as the years fly by, so I'm grateful that we get to do this.

The rest of the week has been spent in the shade avoiding the unprecedented heatwave and dry spell that the UK is experiencing right now. Reading my sci-fi books, working on a side project, and generally relaxing - that's what time off is for, right?