Back on the Bikes

It's been far too long since I was on my bike. Sometime last fall Rory inexplicably became afraid to ride in her bike seat. If Rory won't ride then mommy can't ride. So it's been only boys on the bikes. Well, the sun came out yesterday and I'd had enough. We were all going for a short bike ride. Rory balked but I lured her by a promised romp on the playground at the end. She willingly climbed in her seat and was ready to go. Then I righted the bike to get on and the sudden shift sent her freaking again. I was determined, so I assured her that mommy wouldn't let her fall. Then I realized I might want to add the caveat that if she did fall her helmet and seat would keep her safe. We were off. 

 

Ready to go.

All was smooth sailing. Rory only objected when I would take my hand off the handlebars to snap photos. But I would again assure her that mommy wouldn't drop her. We took the neighborhood streets down to the playground. From there we rode onto the rougher trail bordering the Chattahoochee River. Rory tolerated the bumps just fine. I was psyched! Our neighborhood's river trail connects to another neighborhood. That neighborhood is gated and flat so it's a nice, easy ride with little traffic. Great for reacquainting Rory with the bike. After traversing all the neighborhood streets we headed back to our neighborhood play area. 

Ron and Rogan on the move.

I took this while riding the river trail.  

This is Rory's upset face because my hand was off the handlebars.

This is the Chattahoochee River from our trail. 

The triangle is a very old fishing trap created by the indians who once lived here.

Remy on the trail.

I feel the need to tell you two things now: 1. it had been raining all morning and 2. the river trail is woody and covered in pinestraw. Okay, back to the tale. Rory's really enjoying the ride by this point. She's not even complaing too often if I take my hand away from the handles. However, on the way back toward our neighborhood the river trail turns sharply left and goes up a moderate, albeit short, grade. I'm prodding Remy to not stop so I can build enough speed on the straight away to easily rocket up the grade without trouble from Rory's heavy 30 pounds anchoring my back wheel. I, however, forgot numbers 1 and 2 above. I make the turn just fine with my front wheel but said weighted back wheel did not. It chose to continue on it's forward trajectory and the wet straw was an excellent assistant. In an instant my back tire slid out and over we went. Flat on our side. Mommy HAD dropped her. Rory was SCREAMING!!!

I quickly got out from under the bike and checked on Rory. She looked fine for the spill. She wanted out. I knew to let her out meant she would never go back in. Instead I righted the bike and softly told her I needed her to calm down and answer a question. She took a deep breath and listened. "Rory, are you hurt or just scared?" She blinks, "Hu--Scared!" I then smile big and say, "that's awesome, Rory! That means the helmet and seat protected you just like I said they would. And Rory now we're real bike riders like Remy because you're not a real bike rider until you take a big fall. Go, girl power!" It worked! She smiles exclaiming, "I DID IT!" and giving me a giant high-five. Back on the bike we go.

The spill happened without Ron to witness. This was due to something all parents can relate to--our middle child had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the bike ride. Ron had sped ahead of us to take Rogan to the bathroom. When Rory and I caught up to Ron and the boys at the playground she was still triumphant and gladly told the tale to her dad. She also posed for her thumbs up for bike rides post-crash photo.

I did it!

I'm very glad we're all back on our bikes as a family. We even went out again today. Today's weather was not nearly as sunny and warm as Saturday. We were a bit chilled but still enjoyed our ride, our picnic and each other.