Ride Like the Wind

Hello,

“Go faster,” Olivia shouted as we headed off down the alley with the wind blowing our hair. Because this was my first time controlling this blue two seated bike I was a bit cautious. It was great so on the way back I did indeed go a little bit faster. The girls are too small to help pedal or steer so the adult on board had to do all of the work.

“Don’t stop now,” Nora begged. So we went to the other end of the alley. It is a great paved space and almost private so we could check out this bike of our landlord with carefree abandon.

Leroy and Miriam also had a turn riding on this great invention. It is a tandem recumbent where the seats are side by side. At first the girls sat on a cushion giving Nora a seat between the seats. Later they tried it without the cushion and found that they could both fit on one seat.

The next day, Leroy and Miriam rode that bike about a mile to the lake while I came in the car with the girls and our two adult bikes. When we connected once again, Leroy confided, “Miriam got a little scared on the street.”

About five minutes later Miriam declared, “Dad tried to kill us on the road.” The bike does take up a bit more room on the street than a regular bike, but we figured that was the easiest way to get to the lake even though our landlord had offered to drive it over in his van.

Leroy, because he is the strongest bike rider now, chauffeured the girls up the bike path and around the lake. There are some hills, but not so many, however, later the girls observed that some panting noise sounded like grandpa when he was going uphill. In Leroy’s defense, it is different muscles being engaged because you sit differently. We all thought it was great even hard working Leroy. The girls got to see two ducks, several geese, a great blue heron, and a goldfinch along with many wildflowers.

A friend rode over on his bike and chatted around the lake with Miriam. He also joined us for lunch. So all in all it was a great experience.

Paula