Julie and Greg's Excellent Advantures

I haven't owned a bike since living with my parents. I REALLY started wanting a bike about a year ago. I'd browse the stores and try them out, but I couldn't make myself spend the $3-4-5 HUNDRED dollars for a bike. After all, there's so much more I could do with that kind of money. Greg kept telling me to just buy one already, I couldn't do it.

Then, recently, Greg decided he needed a new bike. His lifeless college bike has been in two pieces and has moved with us all over the country. He finally admitted that his beloved bike is probably never going to be the same. (The guys at the bike shop said they can't even get the right parts for it anymore.)

So Saturday afternoon, we ventured out on some serious bike shopping. Four stores, three hours, and too-much-money-to-admit later, we came home with these:

2 shiny, new (yes, matching) hybrids

and dreams of long, family bike rides in the sun

A smiling family happy to be together...

We were so excited we went to La Finca to celebrate. (Okay, that's a lie. I didn't feel like cooking, but I always feel like going to La Finca.)

Sunday afternoon we ventured out on our first family bike ride. We were so excited. We rode down to the bayou trails where we normally walk and look for gators. But this time we got to go farther since we were on bikes. We went about three miles and decided to turn back and go back the same way we we came. Emily said she wanted to do this every Sunday. Kyle thought it was pretty great.

About mile 3.5 I reminded Emily to slow down on the curves. Even I had a hard time navigating this trail the first time I took it. (For some reason Cinco Ranch doesn't believe in straight trails or sidewalks. Maybe they're not ahestetically pleasing enough. I don't know, but all the sidewalks wind around like a slithering snake.) About 20 seconds later, I watch her bike tire slide off the cement path. Then she and her bike wiped out in front of me. I had nowhere to go. There were trees on either side. So I slammed on the breaks, at which point, the laws of physics came into play. Remember? An object in motion stays in motion? Well, I went flying off my bike landing practically on top of my little girl.

She was crying. Her knee was bloody, and she kept complaining about her arm hurting. Uh oh. If I have to take my kid to the orthopedist one more time they're going to call Child Protective Services. Seriously. This is what was going through my mind. This child has broken her arm three times already...not to mention the burns and the stitches...but that's another post.

We cleaned up the knee, put on a bandaid (thanks to emily's foresight packing her bag with these things), said a little prayer, and convinced Emily to get back on her bike and ride home. (She wanted to walk her bike the rest of the way.)

When we got to Cinco Ranch Blvd, the main road going back to our house, Emily took the lead. A slow, leisurely lead, but she was in the front nonetheless. At about mile 5 she comes to a dead stop for no apparent reason. You could hear the clinking together of metal as we all ran into each other at this point. Luckily nobody fell off their bikes. I found out later Kyle almost ended up in front of a speeding car trying to avoid the collision.

Emily was sent to the back of the pack after this. I took the lead. I was almost home and realized that nobody was behind me. Did they take another way home, I wondered? I doubted it because I'm pretty sure they didn't know another way home. So I hung out for a few minutes until I saw them rounding the corner. We're about two blocks from home. Kyle hops off his bike and starts walking it. I don't know why for sure. He said he felt like he had to throw up (Maybe because he almost got hit by a car?)

We then convinced him to get back on the bike. After all, he could practically coast home.

Finally, home at last! 6 miles of biking bliss! Greg never wants to take a family ride again. I want to get my money's worth out of these bikes. Kyle doesn't want to ride so far next time, and Emily isn't sure she wants to get back on a bike ever again. What an adventure!