Me - on a Bike

Before Ethan was born, nearly 14 years ago, I used to volunteer at an animal rescue agency. As part of my volunteering I would ride my bike up and down the bicycle paths that followed a main river through town. In my paneirs I had animal food. I would find the feral animals and feed them. From time to time we would capture the animals to spay/neuter them and give them their shots. It was fun. Once the kids were born, I did not have time for that any longer. Thus, I have not been on a bike for 12 years, until this last weekend. I was both excited and scared. Right now I have to find one of my biking friends to go with my kids when they want to go on a non-team ride. They have been great about it. For a while I was content with that. Now that I see what fun they are having and how often they want to go, I want to go, too. For a while I was afraid. I thought I might not remember how to do it well enough to be safe. For a while I thought that maybe I was too big (that would be round) to be on a bike. I decided that my vanity would not stop me. It was like it was with swimming. When the kids were little I spent some time feeling too embarrassed to go swimming. Then I decided that my kids should not miss out on swimming because of it, and people were not actually there to watch me, anyway. So, I borrowed a bike and went for a few rides this past weekend. And I had a BLAST! Now I am on the hunt to figure out how to get a good bike for myself. I still have my old bike, but it has a metal frame and weights more than my daughter!

The first ride was with a friend and a team mother. We took the kids on the bike path. We had a little race. The first place winner got a double scoop ice cream cone. The second got a single scoop and the last one received a kid size cone. We went out. I learned to do the gears. The kids were very encouraging. They would backtrack and offer encouragement. They told me they were proud of me for riding. They would tell me little things to keep me going. It was very endearing. You could see that they were modeling all the encouraging we do for them. We were out for nearly two hours. I thought I might be sore the next day, but only my butt had any soreness. So, we went out for a family ride on Sunday. It was a picture perfect day. The sun was shining, but it was not as hot as the day before. The birds were singing. Frogs and toads were caroling in the ponds and rivers we past. It was wonderful. We rode to the cemetery to visit loved ones and friends who have passed on. Then we rode to the park. Again, the kids were so encouraging and watchful. They stationed themselves between me so that they could make sure that I did not fall, that I knew where the potholes were, etc. It was wonderful to be on the receiving end. My kids are such wonderful people. :) I am thankful that I go to borrow the bike. I wish I did not have to give it back. But, alas, that is how it goes. Now I will be trolling for a good, used, inexpensive bike. Surely there has to be someone out there that has a bike my size that is no longer using it for racing and would be happy to be rid of it. I just have to find them. I know Craig's List exists, but I don't know enough about bikes to know the difference between a good bike with some miles left on it from a POS that has a nice paint job and crappy gears. So, I'll learn.