Serendipitously, the UHaul hitch install place is only half a mile from the bike shop where I work, so drop off was easy. I could take my bike in the van to UHaul, bike to work, then drive or bike home depending on when the install was done.
Well, it got a little sticky at 3pm when all 4 kids had dentist appointments and the van wasn't ready yet. Bobby squeezed them into the white car and made it work, though. Yay!
(Still no cavities. This is beyond ridiculous! Not one cavity in 49 combined years of tooth-growing?! Sheesh. Tough little toothies.)
Alex threw up several times that night. Matthew had experienced the same stomach bug a few days before, but we thought it was food poisoning. Nope! So, we immediately cancelled piano lessons and Winter Fun Camp happening the next day.
When the car was ready, I was ready to get out of the house and away from the kids. I decided to ride my bike to the UHaul shop. Much to my surprise, James wanted to come along. I thought about it for a minute. I weighed the options, pros and cons, and decided that it would be more fun for me and everyone else if James came along. It was only 6 miles, the temperature was in the wet but tolerable low 40s, and he's a confident and focused cyclist. He wouldn't slow me down much, and he wouldn't complain.
I've just gotta say it again: James doesn't tend to complain. He's got all sorts of other energy-draining behaviors, and he will complain now and then, but most of the time he just accepts it or finds a logical way around it or inspires others to complain about it instead 😉
And you know what? We had a really good ride together. The route took us through a part of campus that he knows well from our ACES Family Academy experiences. He reminisced out loud as we passed those landmarks, noting what has changed since our stay last July. Then we biked through several neighborhoods. He pointed out houses and cars that piqued his interest, talking about how different they all are even in one neighborhood. He made me see my commute in a very different way.
He did get tired about mile 4. We were ascending a long, slow Illinois hill. He paused at a Lost Cat poster for several minutes reading it over and over and then looking around and then reading it again. Soon afterwards, we were coasting down the other side at 15 mph and he was shouting out discoveries about his head position and how that changed the volume of the wind.
I really do enjoy 1-on-1 time with my kids. It didn't hurt that I also got to be riding my bike and finishing an errand at the same time 😀
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| Found this lovely photo op along our ride :) It's on the side of a motorcycle shop. |
It got me thinking that maybe I could do recreational cycling with this kid. You know...drive somewhere, ride your bike around to see stuff, then drive home. I have zero interest in that sort of thing on my own, but it would be an absolutely lovely way to spend time with someone I love. And now that we have a hitch...
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