May Is Bike Month 2015–About to Kickoff!

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Ahhhh, May, the loveliest month of the cycling year…

Our friends at SACOG are once again pulling out all the stops for Bike Month to promote and encourage cycling as a part of everyday life.  One of the things I appreciate most about Bike Month is how accessible it is and how it celebrates the hard-core thousand-milers just as much as the new cyclists, making it easier for everyone to log their miles, keep their goals in check, and receive the little rewards we all need at times for just that little extra bit of motivation.  The results can be as little as a having a bit more fun or as grand as the formation of life-changing habits.

I’m a huge believer in–and beneficiary of–the power of example, and I can attest that seeing what people CAN do on two wheels makes it a lot easier to take whatever next steps are necessary to rely less on using four wheels.

To that end, the Bike Month folks will be setting up tents (“Energizer Stations”) throughout the region with snacks and fuel, bike pumps, buttons, tchotchkes, and more to make your commute or rec ride just a bit more glamorous and fun.

Bike Month Goodies

I even scored this nice pant leg strap (and buttons and pencils for the kiddos) this morning at a Pre-Bike Month Energizer Station in front of Old Soul, run ably by our dear friend Jose Luis and our friend Tara.

So here are my 2014 Bike Month stats:

Miles I rode TOTAL: 367

Miles with kid(s) in tow: 309

Miles Little Mister rode behind me: 269

Miles the Little Ladies rode behind me (combined): 266

Miles the Little Ladies rode on their own!: 14

Overall Rank: 1513 of 9914 (top 15%–way better than last year!)

No-Car Days (in-county): 28 out of 31

This year, I’m aiming for 500 miles and 31 out of 31 car-free days!

For all of the information on Bike Month events, prizes and more, including details on the Fri, May 1st Kickoff Party, click HERE.

40 miles + 2 kids = 1 fun race!

My lovely wife and our snack-munching little guy help us with our final preparations–snacks, books, pinwheels, and all.

 

**A quick note about this post: it is waaaaay overdue!  The events I write about are over four months old and, sadly, I’ve not been able to get it together to record them until now.


I have never run a marathon, or half-marathon, or 10k.   Nor have I triathleted a triathlon (hey, I made a new verb!)  My wife and I did once walk a 5k with our baby stroller. This–decidedly–does not count.  However, I’ve been wanting to take part in some sort of race, not of the 3-legged, sack, or motorized vehicle variety.  Since bicycling has become a big part of my life and health regimen, it was a pretty easy decision to land on entering a bike race.  Soon, though, I observed obstacles to my newly-hatched plan.  Namely:

I don’t own (or even have experience riding) a racing bike.  I own no cycling jersey (which, anecdotally, are a must in bike races).  I possess no spandex shorts with that weird gel (I assume it is gel) sewn into the, uhhm, “seat” portion.  In fact, I own no spandex clothing of any kind.

Chief among possible pitfalls, though, was my combined zero experience riding long distances and zero time (or desire) for training to obtain said experience.  The other things I could buy or borrow…carving out extra time and effort for training, however, was something I either had to simply do or not do.

I chose not to.

I guess this decision can either be framed as a result of laziness or trust in my abilities.  To keep things positive (and hopefully encouraging to others), I will go with the latter.


The race I chose covered a distance over a little more than 40 miles.  If that sounds underwhelming to you (and it did not to me), let me again reiterate my complete lack of experience and gear, as well as this:

I would be riding my 70lb cargo bike and hauling at least another 100lbs in the form of my two lovely first-grade daughters and a whole bunch of food, books and art supplies to keep them from going out of their minds with boredom.

So now, dear friends, it maybe become more clear why, both before and even during the race, I had no idea if this was something I could physically accomplish.

Oh, and I had never ridden more than 20 miles at once in my life.


 

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Here’s the 40-mile course, winding around and over the Sacramento River, traversing Sacramento and Yolo Counties.

I give all this backstory for two reasons.

First, the silliness of my choice to go ahead with this plan without much experience or wisdom in my proverbial back pocket hopefully makes for a good story.  Second, I really do hope that it can encourage riders (especially cargo bikers like me who are much more practical cyclists than racers) to expand the horizons for what one can actually accomplish on a cargo bike.

[This is a theme I try to hit fairly often in this blog, namely, “You can do a whole lot more on a bike–for you, your family, and the environment–than you probably think you can.”  This is a realization that has changed my (and my family’s) day-to-day life in big ways, and I hope that more and more people take the plunge this year to commit more to cycling and experiencing the everyday world in a more natural and personal way.]

Alright…sermon’s over…back to the story.  Just a head’s up: if you’re hoping for a super dramatic twist or action-packed ending, well–Spoiler Alert–we made it through just fine.  I didn’t go Evel Knievel and jump over anything, I didn’t rescue a wayward traveler and add him/her to the seat in back, and I didn’t break the bike and, Popeye-style, carry my ride in one hand and my children in the other across the finish line.


So, back to what actually happened.

As previously stated, I wasn’t crazy enough to do a “century,” or 100-mile race, so I looked for something shorter, something local, and something that would hopefully raise some money for a good cause.

I chose the “Gear Up” ride: a local 40- and 65-mile race that is REALLY local and helps education initiatives in Sacramento and West Sacramento.  How local was this?  We rode just three blocks from my house on the final leg.  This ended up, serendipitously, giving me a major boost when I (and especially my patient but kinda burned out little girls) needed it most: after riding through almost completely unknown terrain across two counties and multiple cities, it was a lot easier finishing the race in completely familiar territory.

Another thing I was hopeful about in choosing this race was that I had seen, in a promotional picture, a dad and son on a cargo bike.  So, I presumed, we wouldn’t be alone!

Well, I was wrong.  I was, by far, the only one carrying a child.  But that’s ok–the other riders were very supportive and, seemingly, curious as to just what I was thinking.


The course was quite interesting.  We started at City Hall in West Sacramento, winding through city streets and factories, until we hit largely empty agricultural areas.

We rode by beautiful vineyards, pumpkin patches, small and large stretches of the Sacramento River, little farms and wide open spaces.  It was lovely.

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Not so bad a view, huh?

Our first break was about 13 miles in at a soon-to-be-open pumpkin patch (I told the girls what our first stop was and they were quite excited.  I oversold it a bit, as it turns out, so we just took a quick gander at the bevy of squash, made use of the port-o-potties, and enjoyed bagels, juice, and nutella spread upon apple slices…mmmmmmm, Nutella…)

As I said, the girls were troopers.  This was at the end of Summer/beginning of Fall.  It was warm, and bright, and I had stripped down our Yuba Mundo considerably to make it as (relatively) light as possible, meaning that our big sun shade was left in the basement.  The girls each had a big box of books and coloring and snacks, but the novelty of having two stops with gatorade and treats definitely helped when they were getting stir crazy.


Revisiting my early concerns, I made a couple of cheap (and barely informed) decisions in preparing for the ride.

On whether or not my body could physically perform the ride: I was concerned about blood sugar crashes (in addition to, you know, actual crashes), hydration, and cramping, so I brought along–

  • A good water bottle (and a back-up) that I refilled at the breaks and added a bit of powdered gatorade to
  • A bunch of bananas (for potassium)
  • A handful of Cool Mint Chocolate® Clif Bars (which, as far as I know, really did work me.  I had put in a whopping ten minutes or so “researching” online the best energy bars for such an occasion, and this one looked promising.  The kicker?  It has a touch of caffeine in it)
This is a pretty easy recommendation: 99 cents for mint, chocolate, protein, and a wee bit of caffeine to give you that extra kick when you need it going up that hill.

This is a pretty easy recommendation: 99 cents for mint, chocolate, protein, and a wee bit of caffeine to give you that extra kick when you need it going up that hill.

On what I was actually going to wear so that I didn’t over-heat or develop sores or chafing:

  • I didn’t buy a cycling jersey, with its chest-hair-exposing zipper or snack holding pouches.  I just wore an old Dri-Fit style t-shirt.  This will sound a bit sad, but I’ll be honest–I was a little aesthetically envious of the 99% of my fellow riders who were wearing special jerseys (some neat-looking, some looking like a dog had coughed up a half-digested box of crayons).  But I was not about to pay $70+ for something I could do without.
  • I did buy a pair of inexpensive simple spandex exercise shorts (sans squishy bottom insert) to wear under my gym shorts.  I’ll include the link here, because I was quite pleased with how they worked.  Especially for just $19, they worked quite well and catastrophe was averted.

Our second break was at a vineyard a stone’s throw from the river, and it was beautiful.  My sweet girls did a great job looking out and identifying deer and fish and birds and crops along the way.  Having been so used to riding in the city over the last few years, it was such a departure for us to ride in the country and along the river without stopping every other block for stop signs and traffic concerns.  I enjoy our day-to-day jaunts, but it’s great to know that a vastly different landscape that is easily bikeable awaits just a few miles west.

 We passed houseboats, riverside shacks and stands, and more than a couple confused bystanders as we made our way from rural Yolo County, over the bridge, and down into South Sacramento.

This was the strangest part of the ride.  We left, literally, the countryside for busy 6-lane roads and stop lights as we traversed–stop’n’go–from Freeport to Sac City College.  Just when things were looking easier, I realized that we would have to ride up the Sutterville Bridge to make it to Curtis Park, Oak Park, then Downtown.

This is not a fun bridge to bike…even when I’m alone.  I may have mumbled (or more than mumbled) an obscenity upon realizing this was, indeed, happening.

Alas, we made it over the bridge (albeit quite slowly and in the lowest of my 21 gears), and cruised into the home stretch, on my side of the city, where I knew all the streets well and knew exactly how close we were to the post-race Promised Land.

We cruised into our beloved Oak Park and into the central city and made it to Cesar Chavez Park in Downtown for the post-ride party feeling quite good.  I had more than gotten my second wind, and realized that I actually could have ridden a lot further.

Another thing: we totally did not come in last!  We actually made quite good time and came in around the middle of the pack.

My lovely wife and our little son were there to greet us (the girls were so happy to see Mommy, as they always are) and we partook in some of the food truck burritos on-hand while our daughters, Micro-Machine-Man-style, told Mommy everything they had done and seen in rapid succession.

While I realized I could have ridden further, I quickly understood just what happens to your body once you stop the ride…it gets tired–fast!  Thanks to the bananas, Clif Bars, snacks, water, etc, I didn’t feel weary once while we were riding.  Man, oh, man, did my legs crash, however, about 5 minutes after we stopped for good.  Luckily, I was good to go again about 15 restful minutes later, when I rode home (solo, this time–the girls were ready to jump in their car seats).

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We made it! The girls did a GREAT job hanging in there, and I could have gone another 20 miles…that, however, doesn’t mean that my legs didn’t turn to jelly minutes after disembarking my faithful steed.


So, long story short (too late, I know), it was a lovely experience…and one I intend on doing again.

And I’ll leave you with this:

YOU can do something like this.  You’ll probably approach it more intelligently and carefully than I, but you hopefully get what I mean.

If you have a bike adventure on your mind but don’t think you can tackle it, I encourage you to not let that doubt completely dissuade you.  (I’m not saying to completely chuck your doubts, but don’t let them instantly make your decisions for you, either).

Oh, and if you’re in town next September and want to ride in this race, we’ll (in all likelihood) join you!  I have it on good authority that the organizers are also adding a six-mile or so children’s ride portion, as well.  We can form our own, not-so-intimidating, cargo bike contingent within the sea of spandex and 12lb racing bikes.

Cargo Bikes Haul 420lbs of Food & Clothing Donations!

Sacramento Kidical Mass Annual Food & Clothing Drive Recap

Our November Food & Clothing Donation Drive & Ride was a success, even with Mother Nature throwing some inclement weather our way.

We had about 20 riders and delivered 420lbs of food and warm clothing to Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (some of which was donated during the month at the three Sacramento Old Soul Co. coffee cafes, some of which was brought the day of the ride by our intrepid cyclists).  We gathered at Grant Park in upper Midtown, meandered down the (mostly) quiet streets to pick up donation barrels at the Old Soul locations, then cruised over to Oak Park for the final pick-up and drop off.

I’m guessing there were more than a few passersby and motorists who didn’t quite know what to make of us.  I’ll say it again: when we parade down the road, we just may be the world’s least intimidating biker gang.

I’m proud of everyone who participated, and we’re looking forward to doing it again next year!

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We had 6 large blue donation barrels hoisted upon and delivered via cargo bikes. Who says you need a truck or SUV to haul a big load?

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Our multi-generational crew in front of the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, after unloading the goods

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The little ones especially enjoyed getting to go inside the warehouse (and, yes, they all showed restraint–as did their parents–in refraining from climbing up on the forklift and attempting to take it for a spin).

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Pretty cute, huh? She, of course, wanted to travel this way for the rest of the ride. Mom said no.

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Elle’s sweet Bullitt, gettin’ the job done.

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My Yuba Mundo: like if Evel Knievel’s Rocket Bike was painted by a Smurf.

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Russ’s nice Orange Mundo and my Blue Mundo make quite a pair…albeit one that would take up a whole municipal bike rack.

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Ellle making the Haul-A-Day adjustable cargo bike even MORE adaptable

 

 

DIY: Retractable Shade Canopy for Cargo/Longtail/Box-Bikes!

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My Little Guy can travel in comfort and shade now without the umbrella I used to have attached to the middle of the rear deck. This shade folds up easily to be stored behind his seat, plus I can one-handedly raise one side up in seconds to more easily slide him in and out of the Peanut Shell seat.

Tinkering on our Yuba Mundo commences… As the kids get bigger and bigger, I find that space on the back of the bike comes at a higher and higher premium.  I’ve removed both the inner and cross bars of the Monkey Bars rack so that the girls have more space (both side-to-side and front-to-back) and I’ve also done away with the PVC pipe umbrella holder that used to stick up in the middle of the rear deck in front the Peanut Shell seat.

A few months back, I found a pair of awesome and lightweight folding shade canopies made for those folding camping chairs that were all the rage about a decade ago (and still ubiquitous at drug stores, grocers and big box stores whenever the summer months approach).  I bought these for $3 each (they retail for $15-$20), and they’ve turned out to be pretty useful. I simply bungeed the shade to secure it to the rear of the Peanut Shell seat and the Monkey Bars (and, really, you could attach it just about any bike), then pulled it forward and used the sturdy velcro wraps on the end of each adjustable pullstring to secure it to the front of the Monkey Bars.  It took about 2 minutes.

The canopy folded up behind the seat

Check out how nicely this folds up, fitting completely and snugly behind the Peanut Shell seat. It’s nice not having the residual drag when the canopy’s not needed (obviously).

Here, here, and here are some sites I found for similar shades (since stalking your local thrift store in hopes of finding them is probably not very practical)

 

Another look at the shade as a stand-alone product. The thin black ropes expand and retract quite easily, making the canopy pretty flexible to fit your needs. Plus, you can use it for its actual intended use, as well, for any chairs you have in need of shading.

Kidical Mass July Ride–RIVERCATS GAME!

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Feel free to print this and post it in your favorite local spot or share it online!


Here’s the Flyer and info for the JULY KIDICAL MASS ride: RiverCats-Edition! It’s Sunday, July 13!

We’ll be meeting up at Fremont Park at 11:00am, (not that you have to be there that early), and heading out by 11:40 to ride to Raley Field for the last day game of the season. Email us at sackm@boun.cr to get tickets in our lawn section for just $8! (You can show up, day-of, for $10–still a great deal).

Game time is 1:00pm. The game should be crowded, but–luckily–as cyclist we get to use the FREE BICYCLE VALET lot.

To get on the ticket list, or for more information, please email me at sackm@boun.cr

Thanks, and we’ll see you JULY 13th!

 

May is Bike Month Finale — 367 Total Miles

(Oooooh, look who has imitation Photoshop!)

We thoroughly enjoyed Bike Month 2014, finally taking more advantage of it. My girls especially liked getting a t-shirt and buttons, as well as holding the big “I Love My Bike” signs above (which they, sadly, did not get to keep).

Well, MAY IS BIKE MONTH came to a close last week, and it was a good month for our biking crew. Our little ladies got “bigger girl” bikes, and The Little Mister took a few more jaunts on his Strider Bike.  Mommy signed up online and tracked her miles for the first time, took many opportunities to ride for both work and pleasure, and even surpassed her mileage pledge!  Meanwhile, I got more serious about biking at all hours and doing everything I could to replace car trips. My back had been bothering me at the end of April and I didn’t know how much cycling I’d be doing in May, so I set a small goal for May…that I blew past the first week! Some quick highlights:

  • Riding with my children and Mommy to Fairytale Town for Kidical Mass
  • Riding to the Inagural Sacramento Republic FC Soccer Match at Sacramento City College
  • Riding with my lovely wife for a couple of dates to some favorite Downtown restaurants, enjoying the breeze and the carefree feeling we had when we were back in college (a couple of kids we were, practically, back in the day…)
  • Riding to the evening Farmers Market a couple miles away with our girls riding their own bikes! (This was their longest-distance outing yet, and they did a GREAT job!)
  • Riding to the wonderful Sacramento Zoo, passing through all the bike-friendly, tree-lined streets of Land Park
  • Riding nearly every weekday morning with my little guy, all over the city, exploring and going to parks and getting treats.  He is such a joy, although his tendency to be super cute and say funny things has distracted me on a couple of occasions while I should be watching the road.  I just can’t help it…he’s hilarious.
  • Meeting a whole lot of new people–fellow cycling enthusiasts and non-bikers, alike–and engaging in a lot of good conversations about being outdoors, slowing down, doing our small part to help the environment, and the like.  I was lucky to get to speak with more than one person who is now ready to make the leap to cargo-biking and committing to replace a large chunk of car trips with bike trips.  I hope I can be a small catalyst in these transformations…Seeing Elle and Anna on their Yuba Mundos opened my eyes two years ago, and it sparked in me more than just a lifestyle change.  I’m excited to see more and more people, especially in our little corner of the world, seeing that such things are feasible and making these choices.

Obviously, tracking daily mileage and no-car days and knowing I’d write about it later all made it easier to find extra motivation to leave the vehicle behind, but I hope that–going forward–I can stay motivated to make the choice, each day, to ride instead of drive.

I’m still nowhere near my friend and biking guru Elle from TinyHelmetsBigBikes (for whose team I rode in May) when it comes to true dedication to the bike and leaving the car behind for good, but I’m ready to use the ol’ 4-cylinder only when absolutely necessary.  I got in the car 5 times in May, and for two of those we were going out of the county for family obligations.  I even got to make another bike trip to Costco, which was easier this time around (now that I knew how to plan a little better). In town, I used the car 3 times (One of those involved our huge dogs, who I am not at all brave–or crazy–enough to try to ride with!) and found that I did not, even a little bit, miss driving.  Obviously, tracking daily mileage and no-car days and knowing I’d write about it later all made it easier to find extra motivation to leave the vehicle behind, but I hope that–going forward–I can stay motivated to make the choice, each day, to ride instead of drive. One of the biggest positives of the month was that the impact (albeit small) of us choosing to bicycle finally really hit home with my daughters.  I took them to school most days (which was new) and picked them up (as usual).  On many occasions they pointed out to me that they liked riding instead of “making the air dirty and wasting gas,” as they said.  This doesn’t mean that there weren’t a couple of occasions where the added travel time bothered them momentarily or that they didn’t sometimes bicker about who got to sit in front, but–by and large–the molding of our transportational “new normal” was quite smooth.  Most importantly, there was a lot more time to listen to my children, reach behind my back for a tickle, and get to know our streets and scenery better.  Also, you certainly seem to run into friends more while cycling than driving, I’ve found.

Here are the final stats for the month:

Miles I rode TOTAL: 367

Miles with kid(s) in tow: 309

Miles Little Mister rode behind me: 269

Miles the Little Ladies rode behind me (combined): 266

Miles the Little Ladies rode on their own!: 14

Overall Rank: 1513 of 9914 (top 15%–way better than last year!)

No-Car Days (in-county): 28 out of 31

I hope you all had a happy May Is Bike Month, as well, and here’s to the notion of 2014 is Bike Year!

Too Much Cargo? Too Many Errands? Not with a Mundo

I had a small window of time and 3 errands to run, each involving a decent-to-large amount of cargo.

Decision-time:

Do I just take the car?

Or do I add a 4th errand on top of the mix (getting exercise) and take the Mundo?

Seeing that I don’t also write a separate blog about driving my Mazda around town, you can probably guess what I chose.

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Long story short, here are my 3 hauls:

#1 – A cartload of assorted goodies and staples (including cat food) from Trader Joe’s:

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#2 – A couple bags of fresh goodness (including 10lbs of apples, 10lbs of oranges, honey and eggs!) from the big Farmers Market under the freeway:

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#3 – One 48lb bag of dog food for our furry little family members, courtesy of Smart’n’Final:

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So, I’m very glad I chose to ride this day.  It always helps my outlook to be on a bike, as opposed to being in the car, sequestered from my environment.  I even ran into a few friends at the Farmers Market, then made some new acquaintances when I parked my Mundo next to theirs.  Here’s a shot of my beast and their nice orange ride:

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And here’s a shot of how the groceries fit (prior to the dog food plopping on top).  As I’ve mentioned in other posts, a regular wine box will fit perfectly in the Monkey Bars, and my big green bag is loaded with veggies in the Peanut Shell seat.  I’ve also got groceries in the plastic bucket panniers up front:

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Kidical Mass Ride to the Crocker Art Museum–Feb. 22

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Join us on Sat, Feb 22th for a ride to Crocker Art Museum.

Join us at 9:45 at Southside Park’s Northeast Corner for some mingling before we ride off at 10:30 to the museum.

You can brown-bag a lunch or partake in the kid- and adult-friendly food options at The Crocker Cafe.

All exhibits are open and the interactive children’s area, TOT LAND, is great for kids, as is the scavenger hunt you can take as a whole family. There are also two huge courtyards for strolling and exploring.

You can also take part in the optional docent-led tour at 11am!

Bike racks are at the main entrance, the western street side, and across from the entrance at Crocker Park.

Costs are: Adults – $10 / Seniors (65 and older) – $8 / College Students – $8 / Youth (7–17) – $5 / Children (6 and under) – Free. However, we will have some free entry options for children and some adults, (as we have some museum members riding with us who can get some people in), so please don’t let the cost stop you from joining us–we can help!

A Sweet, Wistful Milestone

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My three lovely ladies…

I feel like our family crossed a nearly invisible line this weekend…my daughters, specifically.

While most of their bicycling takes place on the back of our Yuba Mundo, our girls still take little trips in our neighborhood aboard their own bikes (which, committed blog readers will recall, have been sans-training-wheels for under a year).  These small rides have been on familiar roads in our little corner of the world, and haven’t involved crossing major thoroughfares or traveling further than half a mile.

Those thresholds have been rolled over, now.  As is the case with many revolutions, this one started with something small: a pair of unplanned, spur-of-the-moment trips that would have been previously undertaken by Mundo or by car.  This weekend, though, the girls asked if they could ride their bikes, instead, and my wife and I (probably looking like puppies that are confused by something new and shiny) looked at each other and found ourselves saying, “Sure, why not?”

The first trip was to our friends’ house for dinner, before dusk (the bikes were driven home later by our kind hosts in their spacious minivan–I’m not yet bold enough to have them attempt night riding).  It was just me and my daughters, and–much like when they first had their training wheels removed and I was running behind them–they held up better than I did.  I reminded them of a few instructions, which they followed (and had already retained), and we made a little three-bike train of sorts into the neighboring community.

I kept twisting around, and talking to them, and they were just smiling and pedaling and smiling some more.  They stopped when they were supposed to, listened to my voice, and provided some sweet commentary as we rolled along (“Daddy, look! That tree is pretty!”).  The contented and proud looks on their faces made my eyes well up.  I was happy, wistful, a bit scared, and trying to not run into anything,  It seems so obvious and melodramatic, but–truly–parenting is filled with rides on emotional roller coasters that you had no advanced warning you were taking.

This trek was both momentous and liberating for them, and–at the same time–just the normal next step in their journeys.  In a year filled with large and small milestones in their growth, this one was particularly profound for me.  Their beaming faces in the fading light made them age a good couple years, in my mind.

The next day, my wife and the girls were excited to take our new-to-us breadmaker for a spin (a metaphorical spin in the kitchen, not an actual spin on a bike–that would be weird, unless you’re a baker who is really averse to driving).  Realizing she needed supplies from the Co-Op, my wife was going to ride there alone before baking began.  But she asked our daughters if they wanted to come along, and they jumped up and down at the prospect.  This ride was daunting, in my mind, because it involved a busier area in which they’d never remotely ridden (although they had taken it many times aboard the Mundo).  But Mommy is more cautious than Daddy when it comes to biking, so I deferred to her judgement (and rightly so).

About 45 minutes later, they bounded up the stairs and told me all about the flour they bought and how they “rode like big girls” to the Co-Op and (you can’t leave this part out) “We got a blueberry bagel!”  Just an aside–I wish I could get that excited over a bagel.  (To be fair, they do have good bagels at the Co-Op).

My wife said that the girls did a great job, and I found myself not being surprised in the least.  They are wonderful girls, smart and capable.  I am often guilty of not trusting them enough, and I hope that I’m not slowing their progression through childhood.  Hopefully I will remember this weekend’s two little seismic shifts and do a better job, going forward, in letting them go forward, too.