This is how we do it... (sung to a hip-hop beat)
No, no. That will not do. You don't want to really know what is on my iPod. Maybe I'll post my play lists tomorrow.
Well, a tapering I go. The ants are building in my pants. They seem to be the little red ones. So, I'm going to type a little to let some of them out. Somewhere my life got skewed. An hour-and-a-half ride is now a "quick ride". And with a cup of coffee on board, I feel like I could take on the world. Maybe that is the point of tapering. Again, I'll let you know.
Anyhow, yesterday was the Milwaukee Air Show down at the lake front. Packed the clan into the family truckster along with three bikes and the bike trailer for a nice family afternoon. We parked down in the Menomonee Valley and rode the Hank Aaron State Trail to the Lake Front State Park on to McKinley Marina where we all met up with Ben, Kari, and a host of others.
My family was quite the procession. Me pulling the trailer with the brothers aboard, the girl, and finally momma bear. Here is what I noticed.
First off, the five or so miles that we biked in was not an effort, at all, for any of us. Because the girl, my wife, and I all "do" triathlons (we are an active sort). Obviously twenty or twenty-five minutes of riding our bikes was not going to impact us. The girl, like I did as a child, thinks of her bike as a mechanism of freedom and was enjoying propelling herself rather than being shuttled by an adult.
Second, that a lot of people down there watching the pretty airplanes looked at us like we were bad parents. Now, we were not going fast. We were going the pace that the girl set and that would keep our little group together in the crowds. What they seemed to look at was the girl (she is 7 riding a 20 inch mountain bike). The look was at her. It was like, "You are so mean making her keep up with you guys. You should be carrying her or at least not making her work on her own." Boy, would they be upset to know about the time I bet her she could not do the monkey bars in the back yard fifty times.
Third, when the rains started coming in and there was a mad rush out of the park, that little girl can hammer. She dropped her elbows on the hills, got out of the saddle for the bumps, and mashed the straights. She was following me on the grass, over the curbs (yes, the boys enjoyed the ride too. The cries of, "faster, faster" kept us going), down the paths, onto the roads, and around the crowds. I had actually forgotten that mountain bikes can be fun too. Heck, Mommy was in danger of getting dropped a couple of times (but don't tell her).
But, the biggest thing I noticed was that living a healthy lifestyle is the perfect example for my kids. You see, to them it is normal to ride your bike, go for a run, swim a little, and generally not sit still. You don't have to park within a block of an event, sweat profusely while dragging a bunch of junk food and beer, and then have to sit down when you get where you are going. A few bikes, a zip-loc bag of fish crackers, another of pretzels, three oranges, and three water bottles can be an afternoon.
Maybe some others saw us out there having a blast and will give it a try too. I can hope.
I know we talk about race results and training plans a lot. Well, at least I do. But, sometimes we should just look back at ourselves and see how much better our lives are because of the sports we choose. Motion breeds motion (the total amount of energy in this system is not fixed). An active, whether it is competitive or not, lifestyle is a good thing. It is to be enjoyed. It should not be taken for granted, but is should be a habit.
I'm going to go a taper now. This sitting still is going to kill me. Man I am looking forward to a swim. Did I just write that?
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