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| these are our new special hats, and M's "smile" squinty face |
So I got a bicycle this weekend!!
I haven't owned one in years, and I am having fun just dreaming of all the places I want to ride it. I am not interested in road races or mountain biking, I am just excited to go places under my own power. One of the things I miss most about college was that I could walk to 99% of the places I needed to get to - and that was so liberating! No hassle of parking or getting gas or carpooling or needing directions or waiting in traffic. Hubby and I decided that if we moved West we would need to own bicycles, and this was the weekend we finally got around to it. And in 24 hours we realized how small/ride-able Orange really is.
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| almost all buckled in! |
After we ate breakfast and visited the farmers market (post to follow) in Old Towne Orange, we headed over to Orange Cycle, where the saleslady was soooo patient with us and our toddler (maybe she could see how little we knew about bikes, or maybe she could smell a sale...) either way we were grateful for the guidance, patience, and lack of pressure. We took turns learning about the best bike for our needs (hubby and I wanted different things out of our bikes - me something easy to maneuver and comfortable to ride, and he, something he could maybe off road in sometime) while the other would stay with M while he played on the kids' balance bikes (also very cool, and we will definitely be considering this for his birthday in a couple of months! He took to it very well) and bike trailers. After much education and direction we test drove 3 or 4 models each, and found the ones we liked best.
We got tuneups included with our purchase, so we left the bikes and headed home for naptime. The staff also installed the mount for the baby seat. Later that evening we picked up some helmets from Target, so that we could get up first thing in the morning and ride our bikes to breakfast! I explained to M, that we needed to get some special hats to wear for when he was riding in his special seat on the back of Daddy's bicycle. He was very excited about this idea, and did not mind wearing his helmet on any of our trips (so far). In fact, he likes to point to the bikes in the garage and tell us all about who's bike is who's and where he gets to ride and that he has a special hat, called a "huul-mit." |
| playing with a balance bike at the store |
We did it! Rockwell's is less than a mile from our house, but neither of us had ever really ridden with traffic -and we still stayed mostly on the sidewalk. What are the rules for riding bikes? It seems that people ride on the sidewalks all the time around here (where there aren't bike lanes). We did see a few serious cyclists riding on the road, and I seem to recall that bikes are technically vehicles... Luckily there wasn't much foot or auto traffic out, so we didn't seem to be in anyone's way. We arrived safely at breakfast, figured out our new bike locks (and remembered the combinations!!). M was thrilled with his first ride, and jabbered on about who rode where and that we went fast! I was so glad that he didn't freak out when strapped in, but instead he was very still enjoyed watching things as they passed and patting Daddy on the back. After breakfast, we figured our first ride was so successful, we'd head another couple miles to Shaffer Park (from the How to Find a Park Near You post) playground before going home.
Later that evening, though, as we were walking to the car after doing our grocery shopping, hubby remarked on the beautiful weather and how nice some Oggi's pizza would be on their outdoor patio. I asked if we could ride our bikes there, he said yes, and so we did! We unpacked our groceries and headed back on bike.
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