Archive for the 'Milestones' Category

"Mom! Take my picture, and then try to catch me!" - Yes, this is a direct quote.

Claire has a new obsession. Ever since she ditched the training wheels, we’ve been down at the lake practicing. She’s actually really good now. We have plans to get her a bigger bike now that she’s reached expert level on this one.  Although this bike is ridiculously tiny, it’s the perfect thing for her to learn all the moves she wants to learn.  (She’s already mastered riding over curbs, going down hills, and some other fancy moves that make my heart stop.)

As with anyone learning to ride a bike, there was a pretty steep learning curve in just learning how to do it, but she’s handled it like a pro. At first, she was wobbly and needed just a tiny push to get started again in some spots.  Because of that, I couldn’t ride my bike with her, because handling her bike and mine was just not feasible.

…but not now. Thank goodness. Now, I can just tool along behind her on my own bike, and it’s actually a lot of fun.

It’s no secret that I’ve always hated running and will avoid doing it if at all possible.  Running behind her was brutal. I’m so glad we’re not in that stage anymore, and I’m so glad it was short-lived.

I no longer have to run behind her shouting reminders to “peddle, peddle, peddle!” or “steer!” or “don’t forget to break!” or “LEFT! LEFT! THE OTHER LEFT!” all while trying to keep up on foot behind someone who has two speeds: Stopped or Gone in a Flash.

And a special Thank You goes out to those good-natured pedestrians who leapt out of the way with a smile and a chuckle when I’d yell, “Bike Rider on your left…AND SHE’S LEARNING!”

The loops at our lake.

Normally, we just ride and ride, but on Sunday, I actually kept track of our distance.  We did two inner loops and one outer, with some back-tracking to check out the baby ducks (again), for a total of nearly 4 miles on the bikes.  (Not bad for a newbie and an old lady!)

Riding a bike again is taking some getting used to on my part.  I loved riding bikes as a kid, but as an adult, not so much. I had a mountain biking experience years ago that soured me to the whole prospect, and I’ve just not done it enough since to enjoy it.

Because Daddy LOVES riding his bike and has been waiting for years for Claire to be big enough to enjoy it too, I’ve played it up to Claire. I’ve been quite the actress, and she thinks that I, too, think bike riding is the best thing ever. Honestly, now that I have an excuse, I’m enjoying it. I’m working out the kinks on my own bike.  Quite literally, I’m afraid.  Next order of business for me?  A new seat.

Because if I ever meet the person responsible for the design of my bike seat, I’m telling him to kiss my…well, kiss and make it better anyway.

So, if you can’t find us, try down at the lake. I’ll be the one trying to keep up…