To compensate, we ride our bikes everywhere we can to burn some calories. The boys have their own bikes from "home" (downtown) and Dave purchased for himself a sparkling new blue cruiser with a light that blinks and a bell. Yep, a bell. He rings it obnoxiously and almost every time he does, it reminds me that I am riding the equivalent of this:
My bike is my old (emphasize old) bike from when I lived on the beach in college. At some point, it became the property of my resourceful father. He was going on a fishing trip that required a bicycle and instead of purchasing one, why he could use his youngest daughter's beach cruiser! Lucky for him, it wasn't pink.Despite the fact that everyone in our entire family found this quite amusing & told many jokes at his expense, he soldiered on and by golly, added baskets to his new gem. Manly looking silver baskets, not girly straw ones. And when I say he added baskets, I'm talking serious business. There is one ginormous basket in the front and two over the back wheel on each side. He planned on catching some big fish.
I don't recall how the fishing trip turned out, I need to ask him again. (Daddy--if you are reading this, call me!)
The "Basket Bike" ended up at my parent's house for 15 years. My dad decided I needed it back now that we have a beach house to store it in and two young sons who have a lot of crap to cart around.
I can honestly say, getting back on the Basket Bike brought back some fond memories. Like the bike, I was a little rusty but soon, I was zipping around the car port like I was 20 again. The kids thought it was hilarious..."Mom...you mean they made bikes when you were in school?" "Mom..did that thing always have flat tires?" "Mom...will it make it to the beach?"
Basket Bike is still in operation. She required a new seat but that was a drop in the bucket compared to the value of those damn baskets. I am the envy of other bike riding moms in our neighborhood---once they can get past the shock that my velocipede is actually moving, of course.
After a leisurely summer day at the beach. On the left: Dave's Bike.
