Riding a Bicycle...Easy to Do

Many of you know that Josh got me bike for Mother's Day!  It was totally unexpected.  I can't say I was really wishing for a bike.  I don't feel very confident on a bicycle.  I never really have.  I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was in the 5th grade, and my neighbor taught me on a 10-speed.  So, I've never really felt CONFIDENT atop a bike.  That, coupled with knowing how EXPENSIVE a road bike is, left me feeling a little unsure of this gift:   What if I didn't like it?  What I never rode it?  And if I'm being honest (I erased this and then retyped it five times), I have a small fear of getting obsessed with a sport.  Any hobby taken to an extreme can be a vice.  I'm a little bit afraid of getting carried away with something like that, and I worry what that would mean for my family.



But hey, if Elmo can do it, so can I!


















I know one of Josh's reasons for the gift is that I'm the only member of the family without a bike!  They've been going on rides with Josh since the weather warmed up, and although I've enjoyed the introverted quiet time of sitting in a quiet house with a book, I know the family would rather have me (literally) along for the ride, so for that reasoning I agreed to keep it and give it a try.  Something we could all do together as a family is a GOOD thing!

Joshua Paulsen

May 11

Happy Mother's day Amy. Although you looked at me like I gave you a bowling ball, I hope you know that the kids and I are excited for you to join us on some two-wheeled adventures.

After a proper bike fitting, and a new comfy gel seat, we took a little spin up the road to the High School and then back home.  The kids were so cute:  Boo taught me how to shift gears for the hills, "Push the small one on the right."  I'm still 80% UNSURE of how to shift.  I just kinda click things and see if what I did makes pedaling easier.  Yaks, who also has a new ROAD bike kept checking behind me saying,  "Mom, are you okay?  Are you doing okay back there, Mom?"  Sweet boy.  Diddles gets to ride in style behind Josh's mountain bike on a Weehoo.  It's like a baby seat, but instead of riding on the back of the bike, a bar attaches to the back wheel and it's pulled behind the bike like a trailer.  She's strapped into a harness, and her feet go into pedals and she can "help" move the wheels.  She gets to shout "ON LEFT" when they pass.  She loves it, and it's a special thing for just her and Dad.  

I went to a Ladies' Night at our local bike shop, where they had an evening just for women, taught by a Trek women's professional cyclist, who answered all of our silly, embarrassing and awkward questions that our all-male bike shop might have trouble answering. They served appetizers from a local restaurant and chocolate cake!  They talked a lot about gear and proper clothing fit, and taught us to change a flat (still my biggest fear).  They had a drawing for prizes, and my friend Darcell won a new helmet, which she then gave to me, since I don't have one!  So nice.  We also got a free water bottle, a bike tool, and two tire levers.   

This past weekend, Josh had the idea to head up to Spokane to do a session at the temple on Monday.  It's a small temple, and the hours are limited, and you usually have to make an appointment, which is challenging for busy families to be able to PLAN ahead that way.  They were open on Monday, so Josh got a slot (I had been just a few weeks ago in Utah), and we decided to make a day of it, and go on a family bike ride!

We left right after church on Sunday, and drove up to Spokane by way of Riverside Park.  We rode on the carousel, and found some Geocaches, and walked down by Spokane Falls.

Geocache hanging from a tree

We're all smiling!  It's a miracle.

We checked into our hotel and then grabbed some dinner at Texas Roadhouse, where Boo ordered Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  :/  She's got such simple tastes, and it always exasperates us that she orders such cheap, plain food at a restaurant.  Diddles LOVES peanuts!  We bought a bag of shelled peanuts in the bulk food to feed our backyard squirrel last week, but she ate all of them, tossing the shells on the kitchen floor!  We thought she'd really enjoy this restaurant with unlimited peanuts, which ENCOURAGES you to throw them on the floor!  We were right.  She must have eaten her weight in peanuts!

The next morning after breakfast, Josh headed to the temple with a family name (about as close to celebrating Memorial Day as we could get), and we headed to the hotel pool.  The highlight of any trip for our kids - swimming in the pool!  I honestly think we could check into our town's Best Western, and spend the night and then swim in the pool, and they'd call it the best vacation ever!  So funny.

 After swimming for several hours, we hit the showers and I got us packed up.  Yaks and Boo have been into designing outfits for this made-up cartoon series they've created called, "BAO MASTERS".  They worked for a good hour designing costumes for the characters.

Josh got us all loaded up, and we went to an "EXTREME GRILLED CHEESE" restaurant called MELTZ for lunch.  Delicious sandwiches filled with every topping imaginable, and home-made potato chips and soups.

Josh got a Border Patrol:  Pepperjack cheese, colby jack, jalapeno bacon, fried onions, roasted garlic, & ranch

I got an "Ultimate Meltz" White cheddar, Fontina, Monterey Jack, Goat Cheese, Gorgonzola & Gruyere, along with some tomato bisque soup.  DELICIOUS!

We arrived at Heyburn State Park, and got all geared-up and on our bikes!  The bike ride is called "Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes", and it's a paved, 71-mile ride.  We opted for the 9-mile ride section of the trail, which starts in Plummer and stopped in Harrison, where there is a park, waterfront and ICE CREAM SHOP!  That was our goal.  Nine miles there, and nine miles back.

The weather was a bit windy, but it we didn't get the rain they had predicted.  It was beautiful!  The trail ran alongside this lake the entire way.  Gorgeous scenery.

"Hi Mom!"

BEAUTIFUL!

The kids saddles were getting rather sore, and their arms were tired, but we made it there!  As promised, ice cream was our sweet reward.  We all enjoyed our cones, and Josh even got to talk Ironman with another cyclist.

We got back pretty fast, despite the headwind, and the cooler temps.  One minor kid tip-over, and some whining, but we all made it back in one piece - all proud of our family accomplishment.  Yay, team!

We packed up and made the drive home (it was just a little more than an hour to home, which was great!).  Yaks and Diddles fell asleep in the car, and we couldn't wake them up, so they were down for the night - WORN.  OUT.  

It was a really fun trip!  Not too far to travel, and it felt like we were able to do a lot of fun things in a very short period of time!  I like that we still went to church, and kept the Sabbath as much as possible on a trip.  The bike ride was really fun, and I've gained some confidence that I might be able to do this by myself someday!  Special thanks to Josh for hauling us up there, and being our fearless leader.  He had to work really hard loading and unloading and coaching us along the way.  I think he slept well last night.  :)