The Ride...

Bikes. I love them. I'm not quite sure what it is about riding one that makes me so happy, but they do. Growing up, my friends and I had quite the obsession with bike riding. I remember one time, Ashley and I set off on a bike ride only to run into three "Ashburn boys." What was supposed to be a twenty minute bike ride turned into three hours of us totally trying to flirt and having the time of our lives because we actually had males not shooing us away. It was glorious... until we heard Ashley's family riding around the hood with their windows down calling for us like we were lost puppies. We could tell they were one step away from sending out the search parties, so Ashley- knowing we were in deep doo-doo did what every coniving middle-schooler would do. She yanked the bike chains off and smeared grease on my forehead. We walked to the street, met up with her parents, and she proceeded to rant about how "those stupid, cheap bikes broke yet again, and we were stranded having to push them." It worked- They bought it, we were off the hook, and she and her brother wound up with new bikes later that month.

For the past few years, on spring and summer nights, I'm that mom that puts my daughter in her bike seat on the back of my bike (that Big Daddy Mike found while dumpster diving- SCORE!), and makes my son cruise around the neighborhood riding bikes. There's nothing I love more... And today, I was thinking about how that kind of weather is almost here and the saying "It's just like riding a bike," popped into my head.

Wouldn't it be nice if things in life were "just like riding a bike?" Ya know- how people say- once you learn to ride, it will always come back to ya? There are certain things if life where that is the case... like knowing my multiplication facts- To this day I can rattle them off and 9 times 9 is automatically Art Monk #81 in my head. Or drawing a cube on paper- I have not one artistic bone in my body, but I sure can draw a 3-d cube because apparently, that was the cool thing to do back in the day... or making a chinese fortune teller- I can still fold a sheet of paper and the kids get a kick out of finally opening up the last triangle and hearing "You're stinky." Ha! But let me tell ya- fitness and eating healthy for me- are NOT like riding a bike.

Today- two weeks after running a half marathon, I hopped back on a treadmill... and didn't even make it four miles before throwing in the towel. This week has been a complete and total loss...

For me, I think the saying right now is more like: "Once ya fall off, make sure ya get right back on."... Here's hoping to a better week- one where I enjoy the ride.:)