Bicycle (mis)adventures...

With all the beautiful weather we were having at the beginning of summer, I tried to take full advantage and ride my bike as much as possible. My fabulous mother and father-in-law bought Swee'Pea a bike trailer for his 1st birthday, and rarely does the (beautiful) day go by that we aren't using it... We've taken it visit Henry and MamaD... to church and to the grocery store... but more often than not, we use it to go to the park or to grab a yummy bowl of ice cream on fabulous summer evenings.

But a few weeks ago, I had the brilliant idea to hitch up the bike trailer and trek the nearly 8 miles to our local library for Preschool story time.

Here is a picture journey of what turned out to be a huge bicycle (mis)adventure....

8:40 in the morning... latched in and ready to go. Swee'Pea likes to eat while he rides, so the mandatory Eggo waffle was of course toasted for his snacking pleasure.

9:01... My leg and my bike have a run-in with the railroad tracks. The tracks won.

9:20... Arrive at the park at Riverwalk, where Swee'Pea promptly poops and then throws a fit when I try to change his diaper on a bench. I clean him up, then let him play on the slides. I spend the next 20 minutes glaring at "big boys" who run past him, pushing him out of the way as they play Space Star Galictica or something. I officially become "that mom" who tells other peoples' kids what to do since the parent is too busy texting on their phone to notice that their child is about to push my child to his death from the play set.

10:20... arrive at the park with ten minutes to spare. Realize I don't even have my library card on me, and reluctantly pay the $2 fee for a new one so that we can check out books. Spend the next 70 minutes chasing Swee'Pea up and down the stairs of the library, checking out every book he rips from the shelves, and apologizing profusely as he throws up a pound of grapes all over the floor in the middle of story time.

11:30... thank the librarians who "oooh" and "ahhh" over the cuteness of Swee'Pea telling them about his shoes and that he is going "bye-bye." Then proceed to feel their glares as he throws a fit when I tell him we actually have to go "bye-bye" and head home. Within minutes Swee'Pea is asleep in the trailer, and I'm feeling happy and carefree as I ride my bike down Ming Avenue.

11:40... June in Bakersfield, and I'm wearing a sweatshirt. Life is good.

11:45... First flat tire of the day. Glad I had my bike pump with me.

11:55... Discover after I've already gone four miles that the back flap to the trailer is open, and two things that I have checked out are missing. Can't decide if I want to crap my pants or cry. Give in and decide to re-trace my trail in hopes of finding the goods instead of paying a library fine.

12:06... Discover two of the CD's I checked out near CSUB. They fell out when I tried to take a sweet jump with my bike and my trailer. I remind myself that I am 26... not 12... and thus, I should no longer attempt to take sweet jumps on my bike, no matter how cool I think I am.

12:20... Second flat tire of the day. I am no longer feeling perky.

12:25... the tire is pumped, and we are on our way. It is getting warm. I'm so over this bike ride.

12:27... Discover I am out of water. So is Swee'Pea. Realize we are going to die on the bike trail and C.S.I. will have to come investigate our remains. I secretly hope Nick Stokes takes my case...

12:30... Swee'Pea is still asleep. Poor guy. He has no clue he is about to meet his demise. I let him snooze. Better to keep him in the dark about our lack of water as we continue to ride in the wilderness.

12:35... Begin hearing a "flap... flap... flap..." sound every time I peddle. Realize that it isn't that my tires are just flat, they have holes in them and can hold no air. Cue immediate meltdown.

What happened next was just too ugly to portray in pictures... so my words will have to do.

12:40... Call mother, who agrees to come rescue me.

12:41... Cry my eyes out as I bike down Jewetta Avenue. Realize I need to conserve both moisture and energy if I'm going to make it any further. Immediately stop crying.

12:50... Make it to my In-laws house and park the bike and trailer in their garage. Wait for my mother to come rescue me. When she gets there, she offers to buy me lunch. For what I believe may be the first time in my life, I refuse the offer of free food.

1:09... Arrive home, sans bike and trailer. Swear off bike riding for the rest of eternity. Spend a few minutes pouting on the couch, and then decide to call sister-in-law to see if I can borrow her bike for a few days until mine can be repaired.

Approximately 15 miles biked... 2,000 calories burned... and more emotions than I can even explain. Whew. I think I'm pretty much ready for the Tour de France.