Back in the saddle.... and out of it again

Today we did our first long family bike ride. Well, John and I rode bikes; the girls rode in the bike trailer. Yes, we should have done this long before now given that John and I both love to ride but I figured we'd be subject to a lot of whining and complaining given that the bike trailer makes for pretty tight quarters for the two girls for anything longer than 15 minutes.

I was wrong.

They were amazing. Now, we didn't go for a solid two hour ride. We took a long break (due to John's flat tire) at the 40 minute mark and then again after another 20 minutes when we arrived in Waterloo Park, home of a playground. The girls had been begging to stop there on our way home.

And that was the site of my EMBARASSING INCIDENT.

It wouldn't be embarassing if I was 5 or if I just learned to ride a bike. It's embarassing because I'm 37 and have been riding a bike without training wheels since I was about 7. And I've ridden a lot.

However, I'm pretty out of shape now. I was biking up a steep hill, the third one in a few minutes and I knew I wasn't going to make it (just like I didn't make the other two). My legs just didn't have the power, even out of the seat. Unfortunately, this third time though, I couldn't get my foot out of my clip fast enough. As I saw the pavement getting close to my head I shouted "DOWN!" to no one in particular. Don't ask me why. I guess I wanted John to know I was in trouble and he was a ways ahead of me. Unfortunately it also drew the attention of pretty much EVERY OTHER PERSON in the vicinity. They all got to see me fall over like a total dufus. I jumped up, shouted "FINE!" and pushed the bike up the hill wondering when I forgot how to properly use my freaking gears.

Was there blood? Yes. And scrapes? Oh yes. Did it hurt? Not so much... until the wind started hitting it.


At least I was able to point out to Emily that see? Grown-ups fall off their bikes too! Her only response was "You should have cried, Mummy."

And after all this they didn't even want to play at the playground. We were all tired, we went home and I successfully made it up the rest of the hills, thank you very much.