With Child

Nobody is pregnant, don’t be stupid.

Biking with child, or children, is the real matter at hand.  Last night a strange set of circumstances presented itself where I had the opportunity to ride home from work with Patrick, our son, who recently turned 10.  

In 2009 while training for Ironman I did probably 98% of my midweek riding to and from work.  The shortest route is about 16 miles, but it can easily be stretched to 20 or 30+ depending on route.  It worked out well for training, and I’ve been doing it quite a bit this summer as well.

Last night was either ride it again solo on Wilson, or change it up, take the opportunity at hand, and ride Blue, my single speed mountain bike, with Patrick.

And ride we did, and ride, and ride, and ride.  I’ve been riding with P for 3-4 years now, and over that period of time I’ve learned a couple of things.  Things I had much time to reflect on while riding last night.

Expectations

Have none.  I had no expectation that Patrick would make it the entire way last night, and had a sag wagon on call just in case.  I don’t go out riding with him (anymore) expecting to cover a certain distance, or a certain time, or at a certain pace.  This lesson didn’t come easy, and was often painful and frustrating.  Take whatever time you can get and just relax and enjoy it.

Water

If you’ve ever watched any of those wilderness survival shows or read anything at all regarding the matter, they’ll often tell you, when faced with having to spend the night in the wilderness, to stockpile as much firewood as you think you’ll need to get through the entire night, then double it.  This is how I feel about water, except you should maybe triple or quadruple what you think you’ll need.

I can easily go for an hour outing without drinking, my son can’t make it to the end of the driveway most days without complaining of thirst.  On our route home last night P probably drank close to 40 oz, and would have drank more if I would have had it.

Snacks

Like water, I bring a lot of it.  Most of it stuff I typically wouldn’t let him eat on a regular basis.  But I never let him know I have food, or what I have, or how much I have.  But if we stop for water, I’ll generally get something out.  Nothing seems to pick up the mood of  kid like an unexpected sugar bomb.

That’s about it, fairly simple really.  We did make it home last night without the need for the sag wagon.  Two hours and almost 19 miles later.  There were some low points where I could tell he was tired, but he pushed through and we made it with out any real drama.

P, about half way home, pounding his way up the Marsh Road "hill".

I can get on my Wilson and hammer my way home almost anytime.  This was relaxing and fun.  Probably more of what I need right now.