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Whining while biking

If all our biking trips go as well as they did today, we may never get up on wheels again.

It started with me actually getting on my bike to ride with Ella, Amanda and Luke just in our neighborhood. I planned a 1 mile ride around the block---no problem, right? Amanda was high on riding her 2 wheeler, Luke had said at Grandma's that he loved going for bike rides. Ella was on her scooter, ready to have fun and encourage.

Well, it turns out that the smallest, least steep hills in our neighborhood are larger than the ones on the trail in WI. Amanda would stop her bike when it got hard, and having stopped, couldn't get going again. Luke wouldn't actually push down on the pedals, it seemed, or at least he would push down on both pedals at the same time... I got off the bike and coached him up the hill: "Stand on this foot. No, THIS foot. Now the other. Keep looking ahead. Don't stop! Switch feet!" I had to physically lift up his other foot, or he'd keep pushing down on it when he wasn't supposed to. It was very weird---he does know how to ride a tricycle.

Amanda eventually got that she could go up hills on her bike, without stopping. She definitely enjoys going down them (although we didn't go down the steep hills in the neighborhood). Ella gave her lots and lots of tips. I think I'll train her on the 2 small hills near our house.

Luke, however, was a different story. I'm not sure if he's getting sick or going through a stage, but he was convinced he was dying most of the way home. "I can't do it!" and "Mommmmyyyyy, help me!" have become frequent refrains in our house, and were constant all the way home. One of the nice things about Amanda (although something to watch out for) is that she doesn't necessarily tell you if she doesn't like something. Luke lets you know constantly and in a very annoying tone of voice.

I suppose that the lesson of bike riding is that you need to get back on the bike after falling. Thinking about it, it seems a good lesson after this morning. Look for me in the neighborhood tomorrow morning, yelling at my kids to keep riding and not look back (and maybe going home for a mimosa and an advil)!
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