Double Ride and Digging Deep

Ready to Rock Salem Lake

With a golden Sunday upon us and willing participants (at least is started that way...), the kids and I made an afternoon of bicycling. We decided to do the Salem Lake loop first, with a revisit of the SECCA CX course as dessert.

Perhaps to be expected, Joooonyuh (sporting a new, shorter coiffure), shot ahead of Miss Sissy and I, which was alright, as we expected he'd come back and wait for us at points along the route. This left Soph and I to enjoy the ride together.

I spent a good bit of the ride talking her through the gear changes -- when to gear up and down to make her pedaling more efficient. She seemed to get it and felt pretty comfortable to the point of telling me to be quiet. Fair enough.

The sun really was golden, as were many of the leaves, so we had as beautiful a course as you could hope for. As we rode, Soph asked if we'd likely see deer, squirrels or turtles. I told her that we would likely see something, but we had to keep our eyes open.

Since they've dammed the lake up, the wildlife grass growth has been impressive and has changed the ride considerably. There's one part that was always right against the water and now it's not at all. It's beautiful, but in a completely different way. Cool.

Well, as we were riding, I saw a log out in the lake and some little guys sunning themselves. I asked Miss Sissy to pull over and we counted a dozen turtles on that log. Great stuff. After reviewing the photo, there are more than a dozen! Whoa. Soph liked that and was happy as she started pedaling again.

At least a dozen turtles sunning themselves here.

As we made it to the parking lot and I didn't see Matty, I realized that rascal had ridden on, not waiting for us at all. I was later to realize that he had waited, just not very long. Still, I got a little worried. No way to go find Joooonyuh without leaving Miss Sissy's side, so we just continued to mosey our way along.

Tha Kuhnull casts a long shadow.

It was becoming clear that she was getting a little tired. She was pedaling inconsistently and less willing to change gears. It was funny inasmuch as she kept almost catching this rider in front of us, only to slow back down and say she couldn't catch him. No worries, still a great ride, but more cheerleading was necessary on the back side of the lake.

As we got closer to the Linville Road parking lot, I was starting to wonder if a) Joooonyuh would be there b) how I'd handle the situation if he wasn't and c) how Tha Kuhnull would restrain from throttling him if he was. A tense moment awaited, to be sure. I decided to underplay the incident once I saw the boy sitting on the trunk of our car. No need to cause a fuss. Still, Tha Kuhnull whispered his cautious admonition and Joooonyuh blushed appropriately with the promise of future adherence.

With the bikes packed back onto the car, it was time to go to our next cycling escapade.

And then things got awkward...
We'd agreed, given the recent racing successes both children had experienced the weekend before, that we'd like to revisit SECCA and ride the base of the course. With the lane tape pulled, we did a 'cheaters version' of the same loop; which is to say we skipped that annoying up and down on the back side of the SECCA haus.

No surprise that Joooonyuh took off -- this time with The Kuhnull's blessing. The nature of the short course left him within constant earshot and he decided to see what he could do on the trail. This left Miss Sissy with me. She, still smarting from the end of the Salem Lake ride, was in poor spirits and was, as we say, 'High Drama.'

I tried to coax and console throughout and, to be honest, we'd agreed to go slow and just mosey around. No big worries. Certainly, no need to make a fuss. This, however, was not the plan for our Special Consultant, Miss Sissy.

"I want to lay down and DIE!"
"My legs are gonna fall off!"

Big alligator tears throughout. Tha Kuhnull was neither amused nor sympathetic.

Anger abated. Now it's time to just do it.

As we finished the loop, Mr. Joooonyuh smiled as he passed by, watching his sister lay on the ground, gasping for air. I asked her if she was feeling better, to which she said she was. I asked if she thought she handled herself well. She began to whine again and Tha Kuhnull decided that this would not do. I explained that this wasn't harder than anything she did the week before. I explained that she was overreacting. I explained that she is tougher than a box of rocks, but wasn't acting like it.

I told her we'd take a second loop, this time without the drama. Crying would be fine, but managing her demeanor is central to the character of any Southern belle and we were going to address that concern immediately.

So charged, Miss Sissy proved she was up to the call. Yes, she did cry a bit. Yes, she said her legs were hurting. However... she rode faster, smoother and smiled a right bit as well. As we finished the second lap, I asked how she felt about the ride.
"It was hard."
I asked what she thought of the earlier ride and she said, "I was a Drama Queen." Indeed.
I observed she had a tougher time riding in the level grass and I asked why she thought that was. She thought about it and didn't have an answer, only that it was tough. Fair enough.
"Do I have to ride another lap?"
"Nope. Let's just ride the actual race lap you did last week. That way you can practice some more grass riding."  With that, we were off.

A moment before the hike-a-bike

This final lap was the best one yet. She was laughing and talking to me and having fun. This was Miss Sissy at her best. She rode, she raced me and she did a hike-a-bike. Good, good stuff.

As we finished the ride, Joooonyuh came around and said he'd like to take another loop. Not one to hold him down, I sent him on his way and Soph and I got the bikes back onto the back of the car.

In all, it was a grand ride for all. It started well, sunk low in the middle and rose at the end. Just the way it should. And, it was a golden Sunday afternoon with my kids. Perfection.

New hairdo means bike caps are back!