During this social isolation time, we have found that taking bike rides is our happy place as a family. For the past month, we have gone on a minimum of two bike rides a week. We have explored and found all the amazing bike trails around our house. There are a bunch of mountain trails that we can't go on yet, but there are three pretty flat trails that we have fallen in love with. One bike trail is super smooth and flat, but there are a few houses on the pathway, so there is always at least two or more cars that drive on the pathway. With Little A biking around like a drunk biker, it always makes me nervous when a car passes. The path goes directly West, so in the evening we love riding into the beautiful sunset.
When we started riding, Monster was originally in a bike seat attached to my bike. He fit in it just perfect, but he would get cold, especially his hands, so he would always shove his hands under my bum. It was the most annoying thing, and when he found out how much it annoyed me, he started to do it just to get a good laugh. The more we were riding, the most Monster started to ask if he could ride like his sisters. We found a new trail that we call the tree path. The entire path is more like asphalt, with a lot of potholes, but it is all covered in trees and it feels as if you are riding in the forest. We can ride a straight 2 miles in the trees and we don't have to worry about cars on this path.
We found another path that is all forest. The pathway is loose dirt and gravel. This path had a lot of options for different paths that end up all meeting up. I love this path, but it is a little too hard for Little A, since the bikes slide a bit on the loose gravel, and it takes more strength to pedal on it too. Poor Little A is only able to ride about 5-6 miles before she completely melts into a puddle. She complains that her legs hurt, or that the bike isn't working right, or that her legs aren't working right. She does so well for the first few miles, but just doesn't have the endurance to go any further.
Since biking has been a way that we have found happiness as a family, and a way to get out of the house and still obey the social isolation rules and laws, we did a little research and found that we could attach Monster's bike to one of our bikes by way of a tail-gator. The tow bar lifts his front wheel about 6 inches off the ground and we are able to pull him and he is able to pedal and feel like he is riding this own bike. Monster loves having his freedom, and I love not having little cold hands under my bum. All of us look forward to our bike rides. We love finding trails that we haven't tried yet, and we love being together. I have found that if someone, either the kids or myself, is getting crabby or stir crazy or just feeling a little blue from being stuck inside, if we just go for a short bike ride, it makes it all go away and the house is filled with smiles and laughter once again.
No comments:
Post a Comment