Because the rain has come to Texas, the temperature had decreased dramatically. Enough so that it is comfortable for outdoor activities for our little family. When that happens, the garage door pops open and out come an assorted variety of bikes, trikes, scooters and skates.

When Alex was pedaling around on her bike, I noticed an odd thing: she had her knees pointed outward, and didn’t look all that comfortable. No! Could it be? Maybe!

Fifteen or so years ago, BC (before children) I was given the gift of a nice Marin mountain bike. Shortly thereafter, we purchased a Trek for my wife and set off to explore Texas on two wheels! OK, that’s not quite how it was, but we did manage to hit a few trails around our area. But for the last 10 years or so, the bikes have been hanging in the garage gathering dust. I take mine down occasionally and tool around the neighborhood, but that’s about the extent of it. My wife’s has remained pretty much untouched… until last weekend!

It was with a growing sense of anticipation that I watched Alex’s awkward movements on her bike. I think it’s time, I decided. So I lifted the old Trek off its yellow hook and asked Alex if she wanted to try riding Mom’s bike. I was very pleased by her response! She was very excited and wanted to jump on it right away. This, of course, would have been very bad for the rims.

At some point, the kids had decided the nice bicycle pump I had bought was a toy. The hose was soon permanently separated from the rest of the unit, so much for a quick inflation. So I stuffed the bike in the back of the Camry, scrounged for some change and took off to 7-11 with the trunk flapping and the bike trying to escape. The kids watched from the back seat with round eyes, just waiting for that bike to bid adieu. But since it’s a very short trip, nothing escaped except the $.50 it costs for a little air. (On a side note, I recently bought three bags of ice at 7-11 that set me back $10! What a rip!)

When we got back, Alex hopped on and started zipping around, ignoring traffic and popping out between parked cars onto the street. Yes! We are ready to try some nice long trips, just my daughter and I (after some rules of the road of course!) The next morning we strapped on our helmets and hit the local trail. (Can you call it a trail if it’s all paved?) Besides one crash-into-your-pop incident, we had a great time!

I plan to rouse her out of bed every weekend morning for a nice tour, before soccer and all the other to-dos that fill the weekends.