Butterfly Wings

I didn’t make official new year’s resolutions. I’ve tried that before and failed. Badly. However, there are a few things I’ve been trying to get motivated to do, and one of them is to get more exercise. I like walking, but going for a good invigorating walk isn’t so easy with kids who don’t want to go for long walks. I also have this thing about needing to go walking for a reason (other than just to get exercise) - but there isn’t always a reason to go anywhere every day. DH isn’t usually home early enough to either come with us as a family or stay with the kids and let me go alone. Finally, summer here isn’t nice for walking anywhere for most of the day.

I’ve decided I have to stop making excuses. I now have my parents’ old manual (that sounds funny when talking about something you operate with your feet, but you know what I mean - non-motorised) treadmill, so I have no reason not to walk when it’s hot outside (although it needs some minor adjustments, having been stored away for a while). And now I have a bike.

A few months ago, my parents brought me my old bike that they had been storing ever since I had stopped riding it. It has been years since I rode a bike. That bike. I had asked them if I could have it back. They were happy to be rid of it. They had already tried to sell it, but nobody had been interested. So it’s been sitting in our garage ever since. It’s still in pretty good condition, and it was a good bike to begin with.

So we finally decided to see what we could do with it. I bought some tyres and tubes, and DH installed those, and played with the gears and brakes. OK, so it’s not new, it’s not exactly the most up-to-date model, but it’s mine. And it works.

The kids were very excited watching the process. When DH and I are on foot we slow them down. They even helped me choose a helmet - which I admit I kind of enjoyed too, since the last helmet I had was my first, a Stackhat that came in three colours at the time. I remember being so envious when other kids started getting the new streamlined helmets and I was still stuck with my safety yellow/orange Stackhat… actually that’s probably around the time I stopped riding my bike. Hmmm… unresolved issues???

Anyway… last weekend we went for a ride to the bike park nearby. I was terribly anxious about riding in public where people I know might see me!!! However, once we got going I remembered how much fun it really was. They’re right. Once you’ve ridden a bike you don’t forget how to do it. And the boys wanted to race me, which was kind of fun - although it’s only a small bike track, and those corners were a bit tight for my big wheels on my first outing. That’s my excuse for them beating me.

After some more fiddling with gear problems, it seems to be working pretty well. On Saturday we took the boys to explore another local bike path. I wasn’t brave enough to ride that day, so the boys rode while DH and I walked/jogged/ran/yelled after them. Yesterday, the boys and I rode, and poor DH had to do the walking/running on his own. Today, DS1 and I left the others at home while we tested how quickly we could complete the same course.

Small steps… but I’m hoping for bigger progress this year.