A First Time for Everything

 Family bike ride today!!  And we had some of firsts...

We have been telling Lincoln that we were going to get him a "ride-along" bike this year forever.  He really is getting too big for his bike seat and I love the idea that he can actually get some exercise along with the rest of us.  He has been soooo excited to get this new bike and has talked about it non-stop.  We borrowed one from some friends of ours to try it out this afternoon before we buy one.

It took a bit of getting used to.  Lincoln went from excitement to terror.  You can't see his face in this picture, but he is screaming and begging to get off.  I'm sure the neighbors thought we were child abusers or something.  Once he got used to the feeling of it, he did great and "rode" the whole nine miles with us!  I was so proud of him!

Another first...and second.

I fell.  Twice.

It's pretty much all Audrey's fault.

I am definitely still getting used to the clipless pedals/shoes.  When I ride by myself I can focus and tell myself over and over, "You are clipped in.  You are clipped in.  You are clipped in."  So when I need to stop, it is pretty easy to unclip.   However, when I am riding with four kids who just do their own thing, the ride can get a little hairy.  Both times I fell it was because Audrey stopped  unexpectedly right in front of me and I didn't have the time (or skills, admittedly) to unclip quickly enough.

Timber.

Well, my fear of falling has been conquered, or at least succumbed to.  The funny thing is, I have been so scared of falling not because I was worried about hurting myself, but because I didn't want to look stupid in front of anyone.  Oh well.  I looked pretty stupid!   And my knee looks worse for the wear--landed on the same knee both times!

We rode to the reservoir and took turns watching the kids while we biked around it as well.  So I got  25.4 miles and a nice bloody knee as a right of passage!!

"You are clipped in.  You are clipped in...."