The Bike Ride Blues

I had this brilliant idea that a family bike ride on one of Fayetteville's many trails would be a fun thing to do in the nice spring weather (the weather that we have had for one day out of all of spring break!). So, we packed up all the bikes, putting the kid bikes in the back of the van and the adult bikes in the back of John's car. We decided to park at Gordon Long Park and ride south on Skull Creek Trail. The kids were raring to go as soon as we got there. John had a difficult time getting the bikes out and accidentally broke off the seat of my bike. But, I managed to balance it on the bike, sit on it, and if I didn't wiggle too much, it stayed on. (I did have this fear in the back of my head as to how much it would hurt if the seat came off!) And, we headed off the trail. I quickly realized that John wasn't behind us, so I sent Jacob back to see if there was a problem. There was. a problem. The chain came off of John's bike, and he worked and worked but couldn't get it back on. He sent us ahead and said he'd keep trying. So, we took off again. The boys quickly rode completely out of sight. They had strict orders not to cross any streets without me, and I just had to trust that they would obey. Hannah got tired quickly and wanted to go back. I had to keep telling her that we had to get the boys first, and the only way we could get them would be to keep riding. We finally (like 15 minutes later) caught up with the boys, who were obediently waiting to cross Poplar Avenue. They were a little dismayed at having to return (Jacob wanted to do the entire trail) but quickly turned around and rode out of sight going back the way we had come. Fortunately, Hannah did better on the return trip. I guess it was because she knew how far we had to go and that we would be finished when we got there. When we got back to the park, John was waiting in his car. He was covered in grease but was unable to fix his chain without any tools. Poor guy. I sent him home and let the kids play on the playground for a bit. Then, we headed for ice cream which always makes things better. (except my waistline)

So today, we tried another adventure (sans Samuel who had a play date). We went to Lake Fayetteville to walk on the new trail. Unfortunately, we had not fully briefed Jacob that the trail was paved and NOT a real nature trail. He had a full-scale meltdown making the rest of us pretty miserable. He did perk up a bit when we let him cross the creek on the old bridge instead of using the new one (see picture below). We walked until Hannah had to go to the bathroom then turned around.

I think I would really enjoy biking on either of these trails and plan to do so as soon as I get a new bike, preferably one that won't impale me when I sit on it, AND just as soon as I find someone to go with besides my children. Any takers?