Last summer, the girls were almost always up for a bike ride – around the block, through the neighborhood, down to campus, over to downtown. This summer, I’ve had less luck. Julia has been enthusiastic about riding near and far, but Vivi has been reluctant, for whatever reason (prime suspect: Julia’s enthusiasm).
So when Julia proposed to enjoy the gorgeous weather today with a bike ride, Vivi pitched a fit which turned into a big fight which subsided and then, to my surprise, turned into a ride on a new (to us) bike. We rode over the streets to drop off some stuff with a friend of mine who’s gonna try a 24-hour race next weekend. On the way home, the lure of a shortcut convinced both girls to venture for the first time onto gravel: a half-mile stretch that went slightly up and then down, fast. Vivi, of course, bombed the descent – except for a stop halfway down to look back at Julia and me, plodding along.
I was very, very happy with their first experience crushing gravel.