Yesterday Daniel and Jack did a little father-son excursion with another father and son we have become friends with. I am incredibly proud of Jack for
tackling his first serious mountain biking ride to Edwards Point.
Daniel thinks they covered about 9 miles. Jack said he fell off his bike twice, and he
came home pretty muddy. The following comments are Jack's regarding his experience.
"This is where I got stuck in the mud." – Jack, age 5.5
This is when I fell in the mud... I just collapsed into the water mud.
Mr. Tarbell helped me pull it [my bike] out.
This ride was better than the Pump Track because we went a lot faster.
The only time I got off my bike [on the way to the Point] was for some water breaks.
I didn't walk my bike down the steep hills, but I did walk it up.
We walked to the Point after we parked our bikes.
We went to all three Points.
We were throwing stuff off the ledge: rocks, a pine cone, and sticks.
This is one of the cliffs.
They were not scary but Daddy thought I was going to jump off, I think.
It would be scary to jump off!
We were hopping over a log to go back.
Where we parked our bikes – on the kid tree.
Riding back to the car.
It was tiring walking up the hills with my bike.
Some of the time I rode on the side of the [banked] path.
Do you know why?
Because there were mud puddles [we had to go around].
We saw a teenager and he wasn't behaving very well.
He was riding a dirt bike and he almost hit daddy.
Mother's Day means that I get to pick what we do and where we eat. So even though Jack was voting for Wendy's for lunch, I opted to try The Daily Ration. The promise of pancakes was a good persuader and Jack was on board with forgoing Wendy's.
We were pleasantly surprised to get right in at the restaurant, and even though it took a little while to get our food, it was worth the wait. Though a photo at the restaurant with my boys was not going to happen (someone was hungry and needed a nap!).
After our fill of delicious food, we headed home to grab our bikes and hit the trails for a little family adventure. On the drive home, Isaac had a little cat nap and Daniel had time to take Jack to get me flowers and make me a sweet gift.
Once our bikes were loaded on the car, we made our way to Stringer's Ridge for some mountain bike action. We have been wanting to take Jack to try out the Pump Track there and if we felt like he was able, we thought we would try one of the shorter trails at this park.
I can't tell you how excited I am that Jack is ready to start getting on easier trails with us. Daniel introduced me to mountain biking about 10 years ago when we lived in Charlotte and I love it. It gets me out in nature, and there is a thrill element to flying through the woods while navigating sometimes difficult terrain. It is a ton of fun.
Being able to take our kids out with us is fantastic, and it was a great way to spend Mother's Day.
When we arrived at the Pump Track, Jack hopped on his bike and went straight to the biggest mound to ride over. He didn't make it up and ended up in the tall grass. Initially I thought he was going to be over the experience, but he got back on his bike and worked on the smaller mounds.
Before I knew it, he attacked the big mound again (following Daniel this time), and he made it! And then he rode down it like it was nothing! Proud mama moment for sure.
After we all did several laps, we made our way to the second track and tried it as well. The first track we did was kind of a figure eight, the second track was 3 loops (kind of like a snowman?). You can do variations of the loops and work on your banking skills, as well as riding over small repeating bumps and hills. It is really good skill development for being on an actual trail.
Unfortunately Isaac was not enjoying the Pump Track. We noticed that his head was bouncing around more than we prefer and we were in the sun, so it was hot. We told Jack to take a few more laps and then we loaded the bikes and drove around to the other parking area and trail access at Stringers. The trail access to Stringers from the Pump Track area is really steep and not great for little kids.
So we loaded up and made our way up the main trail to the Choo Choo trail. The Choo Choo trail is a short dirt path that loops Old Baldy. It was PERFECT for Jack. He had some small climbs, but it was manageable even though Jack's bike doesn't have gears.
As soon as we were on the trail, Jack shouted something like, "This is AWESOME! It is just like the pump track!" It was better for Isaac too because we could ride quickly and it was in the woods so it wasn't as hot.
We did four loops on the Choo Choo trail before we had to leave.
Jack had a lovely meltdown because he wanted to go back to the pump
track and we were out of time. Other than the meltdown, it was a fun day
with our family.
After our ride, Daniel dropped me off at Warehouse Row where I met a couple of girlfriends for dinner. We ended up eating at Tupelo Honey (after I got changed and cleaned up a bit). Three hours spent with other moms, visiting with no distractions, responsibilities, or bedtime duties, was a perfect way to end a lovely Mother's Day.
I am looking forward to more adventures with my little family. It feels so good to know that the kids are getting bigger, and more skilled and that bigger adventures are just around the corner for us!
Before I had kids, I was pretty fearless. I was always up for trying new things. When Daniel purchased his first motorcycle when we were still dating, I didn't bat an eye. But once I had kids, fear wormed its way into my head and made itself comfortable.
In those early years when Jack was a newborn, I was afraid a lot. Would this little baby that I had been entrusted with survive? There seemed to be things lurking at every turn and I found myself awake during many nights just worrying.
When Jack was around the age of one, Daniel and I started biking pretty regularly again, taking Jack with us. One of our favorite places to explore was the Hays Nature Preserve in Huntsville. It has great paved trails and you can also explore some dirt tracks that aren't too difficult.
Jack loved his time on the back of Daniel's bike, and Daniel and I enjoyed getting to do one of our hobbies again. On one of those rides with Jack, Daniel found a trail that had a rocky descent. I don't think that it was particularly steep or long, but as I stood at the top I experienced a serious mental block.
When I first started biking as an adult it was mostly on mountain bike trails. I had great confidence speeding through the woods in an effort to keep up with Daniel, riding over roots, knolls and around tight turns. I had no fear then. But that day in the woods with our toddler, I could not, for the life of me, muster the courage to ride down. In shame, I got off my bike and walked...
About a year ago Daniel and I had the opportunity to sneak off and ride our mountain bikes, just the two of us. It was the first time I had been on my bike since being pregnant with Isaac. It had been raining and the trails were muddy, but we were undeterred in our effort to find the right trail out to Edward's Point. We didn't find Edward's Point that day (we ran out of daylight), but I did tackle some really difficult terrain. Over big rocks and logs and down some pretty steep sections. We were both covered in mud when we finished, but I don't think that either of us fell off our bikes!
I'm not sure what happened between that day in Huntsville 3+ years ago and the day last year, but fear is no longer controlling me. At least not when it comes to mountain biking!
I have been more willing to try other things as well. Maybe it is confidence in being in better shape but this ability to be confident instead of afraid of hurting myself has manifested in other ways as well. I have been going to yoga once a week over the last couple of months and when we have the opportunity to try harder moves, I always try the harder variation.
I have surprised myself by feeling comfortable flipping my dog (or wild thing) and also being able to do a wheel. I would have been too afraid that I was going to hurt myself in the past. Today in bootcamp I was jumping rope and it crossed my mind that I could do some pretty cool moves with a jump rope when I was about ten years old. So during my 60-second interval with the rope, I tried crossing my arms. The first time I hit myself with the rope, but I tried again. And my body remembered! It felt good to try to do something I used to be able to do. And I did it again, and again.
I am constantly reminding my kids to get back up, shake it off and try again. Whether walking or riding a bike. I want them to keep trying. And I want that for myself too. I hope I never stand at the top of a hill and let my fear take away the joy I might get from accomplishing something. I hope I have the courage to remind myself that it is ok to fall sometimes (or hit myself with the rope) and that I just need to get back up and try again.
Some people go to dinner and a movie, or visit the theater. When the opportunity allows, and the weather is nice, we get outside.
Yesterday one of Daniel's sisters was in town and we took advantage of free babysitting to hit up the muddy jeep trails in Prentice Cooper State Forest, just a few minutes from our house.
Daniel first introduced me to mountain biking back when we lived in Charlotte (about 10 years ago) and I was quickly hooked.
I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so once I got used to navigating roots and twisty trails, and how to properly work my gears, I was in love.I am in better shape than I was ten years ago, so now it's even more fun!
There is something about flying through the woods at breakneck speeds that gets your blood rushing.
It rained most of Thursday night so we knew that there would be mud, but we weren't quite prepared for the huge puddles we encountered. Our ride was a bit of a balancing act as we rode on the banks of puddles while attempting to stay upright.
It's been about two years since our last ride and I surprised myself by riding fast and without fear. This was one of the more technical rides that I have completed and riding over logs, down slippery boulders and climbing up steep embankments didn't phase me in the least.
About halfway through our ride I realized that I had been in low (heavy) gears for the majority of the time. I think the heavier gears helped me to feel more in control, like I wasn't just going to slip off the steep muddy slopes, but it also made the climbs hard.
I can tell that I have been doing weight lifting this last year because even with the heavier gears, I had no problem climbing the steep hills.
Not to say that I wasn't breathing hard!
My pictures make it look like we walked a lot, but those were just times that I was stopped long enough to take a photo.
I think we both took one spill (nothing serious) and we both had to walk our bikes across a couple of logs and up one or two really steep, muddy slopes. Other than that, we were on our bikes the whole time.
We started our 6 mile ride from Timberlinks Drive, with the hope to make it to Edwards Point before sunset. Somewhere along the way we missed a turn and ended up on Edwards Point Road.
Since it was getting late, we changed plans and biked back to our car on pavement. It is so fun to ride fast after you have been slogging it in the mud (though our knobby tires threw a ton of mud onto my face as we rode back).
It was such a fun return to mountain biking. We really love where we live and I hope we can hit the trails more often. Today we are both sore, but it was worth it!
Trail Stats: Trail: Prentice Cooper Jeep Trails, near Edwards Point Distance: 6 miles Time: 1.5 hours Elevation Gain: 360 feet
