We have officially begun our training for our biggest bike adventure yet, and our fifth grader did GREAT! 🤩 There were two “safety fun” rides on the calendar this weekend, and we attended both 😊 Overachievers - who us??! When it comes to bikes…yeah maybe a little 🫣
While the safety demonstration was identical both days, the rides themselves definitely were not! On Saturday we rode a fairly easy 7-8km loop around the neighborhood, and Sunday's ride was double the distance.
Saturday’s ride was easy peasy for MiniMe, acing every stop and keeping up with the leader. Mama, on the other hand, got busted at the first stop sign 😶🌫️ You see, one of the rules is to completely top at every stop sign on the road. One foot down. Look left then right, and if/when it is safe, proceed. I forgot the foot part 🤦🏻♀️ Or maybe it was the look part. I don’t remember. Either way, the nice instructor lady said it would be the parents who struggle with these rules more than the kids…and so I had to prove her right! 😃
After the ride, Mini says how easy that was and how we should’ve ridden our bikes to the meeting spot, and we praise her for her efforts on our way to the bagel shop. Then at home, we get her virtual cycling account reactivated, she’s eager to keep pedaling those legs and asks if she can join the ride I’m about to lead. 😯 She rode with us (well, in front of us!!) for about ten minutes before she “Switched” gears and teleported to Hyrule for the next hour or so. 😉
Then came Sunday. Not everyone was as eager as me to go for another ride (and ironically I’m the one who spent 3-1/2 hours on a stationary bike the day before lol).
💪 When you don’t feel like riding, do it anyway 💪
And that’s just what we did! (Disclaimer: I really wanted to do this second ride because the route was different, so I might have been a bit encouraging, even if not very convincing at first.)
Today’s “family” lesson was to always ensure that everyone’s bike helmets are inside the car before leaving the house. Daddy, the heroic knight that he is, drove all the way back to retrieve Mini’s helmet. 😬 He returned just as the leader was about to roll out of the parking lot. So, yesterday we rode at the front and today we rode at the back. Bonus: The founder rides in the back of the pack!
Side note: I noticed Big D had a RAGBRAI plate on the back of his bike, so I said “Oh wow! You’ve done RAGBRAI, that’s so cool!” He tells me he’s done it a couple of times…as in 31 times! Gulp. Thirty-one!?!! 😱 WOW! OK, in hindsight, of COURSE he’s done it multiple times! This local legend has been riding across California with dozens of fifth graders for decades! Of COURSE he participates in multi-day cycling events more than once! Quite impressive nonetheless. My virtual friends might be interested to know he’d not heard of RAMROD…until today 😀
Okay back to today. This time we rode through the neighborhood and continued onto the bike path a few kilometers, turned around and went back the way we came. A little bit o’climbing was involved. Not terrible, but enough to have one or two kids begin questioning their young life choices. (We call them rollers, they call them “ugh agains?!”) All good, though, because everyone finished!
💪 We’ve got grit so we don’t quit! 💪
Mama had a bit of a tire issue early on, which may have earned me the badge for first mechanical of RAC 2026 🤭 It sure tested my tired legs catching up to the group 😶
Overall it was a great ride: No regrets, MiniMe never complained, she was still smiling at the end and even earned herself a doughnut 🥳
As I’m finishing this post, she has just finished her fourth Zwift ride! 😆 I am most certainly impressed with her enthusiasm! I think I’ll wait a day or so before discussing muscle soreness 😐
Seize the ride! 🤪
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