The Summer of Biking Love continues here in Jenworld.
Yesterday, the girls and I decided to walk to the library and our favorite cupcake place. Then the girls asked if they could ride their bikes and without giving it any thought whatsoever, I said yes.
You might be thinking, “Why would Jen need to give this much thought?”
Because Elegant only just learned to ride without training wheels.
And you’re probably thinking, “So, why is that an issue?”
Because El’s version of stopping herself is not to use her brakes, but to instead throw one leg over her bike frame and, in one smooth motion, do a perfect acrobatic dismount. If it weren’t so stupid and unsafe, I’d be impressed by her crazy Cirque du Soleil skills.
Also, she doesn’t yet go forward in a nice straight line all the time. Instead, imagine a circus clown intentionally weaving left and right and that’s how my younger daughter bikes at this point. Only, her act is not intentional.
So understand my trepidation now?
I opted to leave Bubbles at home, which may not make sense, but I felt confident that I’d be focusing on Miss Doesn’t-Use-Her-Brakes more than anything else.
We set off.
I decided to have the girls bike on the sidewalk and not on the bike lane, which is not terribly kind to walkers and runners, but I didn’t trust Miss Doesn’t-Go-In-A-Straight-Line to stay in the bike lane and not wander in front of a car.
Graceful zipped ahead and then waited patiently for us at each intersection before continuing on. She is a strong, safe biker and does not worry me in the least.
Meanwhile, Miss Bikes-Like-A-Drunk-Driver was doing pretty well and only occasionally clipping lamp posts, signs, or walls. She got really good at occasionally sticking out a foot to push off against retaining walls or re-balance herself.
The girls thought that biking would be so much faster and that we’d get to the bakery without breaking a sweat. As if. I was running rivers of sweat within the first two blocks. It’s possible that fear combined with adrenaline might have had something to do with it.
The journey was every bit as long as if it had been on foot, especially since Miss Didn’t-Want-To-Sweat insisted on pushing her bike up the slightest inclines, of which we have a great many here in mountainous central Virginia.
I had the camera with me, with every intention of documenting our journey, but as you can probably imagine, I spent a lot of time saying things like, “El, don’t hit that parked car.” Or, “El, watch out for that lamp post/retaining wall/random stranger.” I did take one photo, which I’ll show you in a moment.
We eventually reached our destination and the cupcakes were worth every ounce of sweat:
And then we headed home. Really, taking Miss Still-Is-A-Little-Girl-Even-Though-She-Thinks-She’s-Big on a three mile bike ride was a bit much and about a mile from home, she was near tears and refusing to bike any further. I bribed her with a quarter (yes, a whopping 25 cents!) if she’d bike the next block AND use her brakes properly. That broke the spell and she made it the rest of the way home; whereupon she collapsed on the sofa with her new library books.
And then I needed a nap.
Today, I think I’m going to take Bubbles out alone, early in the morning while it’s still cool. If my children want to go anywhere, I’ll be happy to drive them.
My Ernest was always a champion biker. The training wheels came off the world’s tiniest bike at age 4.
But when he took his brand new big boy bike out on the day of his 5th birthday, he wasn’t looking where he was going and ran into the back of a car and got a black eye and we had to pay $200 for the damage to the bumper.
She’ll be Miss-Bikes-Like-Lance-Armstrong by the end of the summer.
Go Elegant!
My youngest used to bike just like that! Instead of the acrobatic dismount, she’d pull some crazy maneuver where she try to plant both feet on the ground (still straddling the frame) to stop the bike. It didn’t work out very well, and luckily she clued in to the brake thing before serious injury was incurred.
Give Elegant time – she’ll be a pro in no time!
You described that so well that my arm hairs raised–I’d have been stressed out, too–totally cancelling out any benefits from biking to my destination.
OH God, I remember those days. The BEGGING to ride their bikes somewhere, or rollerblade, and I knew they’d lose it before we got back home….
Cupcakes had to be a great incentive tho! I should have thought of that.
Adrenaline + fear = burning off SO much more calories than a calm, casual stroll alongside . . . more than compensates for cupcakes, IMO!
I’d try and talk her out of biking with Crocs, though. I am a Croc wearer myself, and the big bulky feel of these “shoes” won’t give her the necessary incentive to use those brakes! The more she feels the bike, and it’s machinations (ooooh, big word) the better she’ll become in just “doing it”. Just a thought.
I think I would have been a crabby mess after a three mile ride! And I can almost alwysy stay on my bike. I would have required another cupcake
When I babysit my niece and nephew, sometimes we’ll go up to the park or the ice cream shop that’s a few blocks away. And every time, they want to ride their bikes, or scooters or something. And then EVERY TIME Auntie is carrying the scooter home or walking a bike.
Sigh. Both my girls are still using training wheels. Leah’s scared to give them up, and I just haven’t gotten around to designating an afternoon of removal and training. Soon though.
I can totally see Elegant doing the Romanian Gymnast Bicycle Dismount. I hope she learns the brakes soon.
That is such a sweet story! Such good mothering! You must feel very proud as she gets more confidence xx
Points for the effort I think, that’s awesome!
Elegant and I would never be able to bike together because I am Mrs. Doesn’t-Go-In-a-Straight-Line. I do use the brakes, though. According to my family I use them too much.
I, too, ride alone pretty frequently.
Now THAT is how to spend an afternoon! Great exercise, time with your Mom, new books from the library, and a cupcake to finish it off. Sounds like perfection to me
Bribery always works.