Shannon had to attend a work-related training session tonight, so I went home early to get the girls through the homework-and-dinner routine before tae kwon do. Since she needed the car to get to her training, she had arranged for some friends to pick the girls up and take them to class. After they scarfed down their dinners, though, the girls decided that they wanted me to come to TKD too. I said, sure, and why not bike the mile and a half to class, too?
To my surprise, they both went for this idea, so I called our friends to cancel the ride while the girls got themselves ready. When we went out to the garage, though, we discovered that Vivi’s front bike tire was flat. The ancient tube and valve wouldn’t accept any air, so she rode the flat tire all the way to class, which she did – with just a couple stops to catch her breath and one to cry a little. I was very proud of her, and of Julia, who cruised along without any cares at all. Both girls had no problem navigating a truly shitty stretch of no-sidewalk road. And Julia even shrugged off an accidental collision with a wheelbarrow that some dolt had left in the middle of the sidewalk.
We made it to class with plenty of time to spare. While the girls went through the day’s lesson, I tried to reinflate the tire with a different pump, but again had no luck. Having heard from our friends that we’d biked to class, Shannon texted me with her worries about Vivi being able to get home afterwards, when she’d already be very tired. When class ended, I told Vivi that I had not been able to fix her bike, but that I just knew she was tough enough to get home on the flat tire. She literally gritted her teeth and headed home on that flapping flat tire – even making enough speed to actually pass Julia.
They cruised into the garage with no troubles and grabbed a quick snack before getting right into their bedtime routine. The girls are typically not great with changes to their routines, so I was very pleased at how they handled this one. Next stop: riding on gravel!