Field Trip Friday #26--Biking

It was another beautiful spring day.  I can hardly express how happy I am when we can be outside enjoying the warmth and beauty that is spring this year.  Winter was not bad at all, but seeing everything sprouting and budding is great.  I wanted to do something outdoors today for field trip Friday, so I took the kids biking on the Murdoch Trail, a nice wide, flat trail with (I hoped) few fellow bikers at the time of day we were going.

Blythe was not super happy about biking.  She forgot that she knew how ride a bike and that she likes it, so when we first got started, there were some tears and a bit of a fit about going anywhere.  It didn't help that we were getting on the trail close to a spot where there was an underpass and we would have gone speedy fast down the hill and then had to pedal hard to get back up it.  I assured both Blythe and Brandt that we could just cross the street at street level and no one needed to freak out.  Blythe also didn't realize that she has grown and her bike hasn't, so she can now sit on it and touch the ground, even if her bum is on the seat.  She did tip over as we were just beginning and that made for a delay and more tears, but I assured Blythe she could do it, I would stay by her and help her start, and she really would like it once we got going.

To get Blythe back in the swing of things, I had us go down a short distance away from the underpass (still freaking B&B out), on a totally flat part of the trail.  I encouraged and praised as we went along, and it began to feel natural again.  We turned around and continued on.  There were three spots where we had to stop and walk our bikes across the street, but after we'd stopped two times, Blythe was able to get herself started again, and she rode away from me, happy to be out.  Brandt was fine and would have ridden across the street (though not through the underpass), riding along without problem.  Blythe remembered that she not only knew how to ride a bike, but really liked it, and by the time we got to the turn around spot to head back to the car, she was feeling confident.  Not super strong--she told me her legs were really hurting--but confident.  We probably biked two miles before we turned around, making today the longest ride the kids have done.  It was a fun Field Trip Friday activity, and I hope, as we have gotten back on the bikes early in the year, that there will be lots more biking to come.

 

Blythe was worried that I was going to crash into her because I was taking a picture.

Look at that confident posture.

She's a biker!