My son has been bribed by his father to get in four "long" bike rides this summer (which is now my "easy" course). It is from our home, out 2.5 mi and back with a brief detour down one cul-de-sac. Husband agreed to give him $20 towards the reward of his choice after completing them. He doesn't enjoy exercise and I guess his dad was up for "whatever works". Except that my son can't ride nearly as fast as me and it is terribly frustrating to ride with him. Not to mention that when he starts to hit the wall that we all tend to hit (mentally more than physically), he is a ball of negativity. We did this ride on Saturday (his ride #3 this summer) and like money burning a hole in his pocket wanted to know when we could do it again so he could get his $20 towards a new airsoft gun.
So I took him out this evening after supper. I had a pretty low key day - lots of reading blogs (oops). Didn't get much work done (oops). So maybe this was my attempt at some kind of redemption (that and I am having some shin splint pain since my walk with Jennifer and cross-training seemed like a good way to "rest"). The "out" part of this ride is pretty easy - a long, fast downhill and a lot of basic flats. I had to do some little "loops" to let him catch up with me (or ride back to him as the case may be). On the way back I tried to prepare him for the first part of the hill going back (remember he mastered the 2nd half /aka steep/ part of the hill last time). I told him he could do it and he geared down and got it done (yay!), but he was flipping out when he got to the bottom of the steep hill and insisted on stopping to rest. Like total comeapart with tears and everything. Not pretty so I rode up the steep hill and told him I'd wait at the top. I told him he had to keep moving (walking or whatever) and I'll be damned if he didn't get back on his bike and get up the steep section!! Rock star move, buddy! So proud.
Tried to tell me we didn't need to go into the cul-de-sac now, but I said "Fine, I'll do it and catch up to you." But he followed me and added that little 0.25 mi or so onto his ride too. We got home and he headed into the garage while I went up to my friend Tania's house and back (another 0.5 mi or so). It was hot and humid as it has been for a while this summer, but we got in a decent little workout. I probably finished a total of about 6-6.5 miles (give or take with the loop de loops). Proud of my boy, but looking forward to NOT having him with me next ride. Tomorrow's workout? Hill climbing at the waterpark at The Lake for 3 hours. Maybe I can do some swimming in the wave pool?
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