10-Miler with toe-head in-tow

Natalie has been asking to go on a bike ride with me.  She has 3 “bikes” to choose from: her princess scooter, a seahorse bike w/ training wheels, and her big red tricycle with big inflatable tires. 

I usually encourage her to take “big red” because it’s the most stable and she can ride it the fastest… but… she’s three years-old… and let’s face it, I’m not going to get much of a workout with her riding along on a tricycle.  Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with her out on a bike ride – and I love the fact that she wants to go riding too – but I need to have some rides that push me as well – especially if I want to maintain my goal to be able to ride Yellowstone next summer. 

So I decided to take her with me in the bike trailer on my first 10-mile ride.  We have a monument of an eagle at the entrance to our city.   It’s five miles from our house and a gradual uphill ride the whole way there. 

She put her bike helmet on and grabbed a water bottle and we strapped her in.  The ride was a challenging one – I had a headwind, it was uphill for five miles, and the 45-pounder in-tow provided some extra resistance.  After the first mile I decided to only do half the trip – and then I continued to debate that decision in my mind for the next 2 miles – and then after the 3^rd mile I decided to make it all the way even if it killed me.

Natalie had a great time.  She sang all the way back from the eagle – Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star… and America! America! God shed His grace on thee! 

It was a good ride.