Fast forward to this year and Isaac has mastered his Strider Balance Bike and was even able to handle riding it over the hills and bumps at the Pump Track recently. At that time he kept telling us that he wanted pedals on his bike.
We waited a few weeks and he kept asking about pedals and no training wheels. So we finally went to our neighborhood park and let him give it a try.
The result was that a few weeks before his third birthday he was able to ride without training wheels! Now, he is by no means proficient at it, but he was able to do it. Pedal, pedal, pedal, Isaac!
A few days later he asked to put the training wheels back on and we acquiesced. But I'm sure he will be riding on his own soon enough! We are incredibly proud of him for wanting to try and actually doing it.
And honestly, we aren't surprised that he was ready to try. Two years ago he was chomping at the bit to be on Jack's bike! Image above taken summer of 2016!
It appears that this is our year for biking. While we managed a little mountain biking for Mother's Day this year, for Father's Day we made our way to the Tennessee Riverpark, which is one of our favorite places to bike as a family.
Daniel had to work the ENTIRE weekend of Father's Day, so we didn't actually do this excursion until the following Wednesday, but we were all thankful he was able to take a day off to spend with us before we left on our trip to Arkansas.
While he did have to work, we were still able to have lunch with him and his dad on Father's Day. We went out to Harrison Bay and ate at a Mexican Restaurant at a marina on the lake that Daniel's dad likes. Then Daniel went back to work. For supper that night, we picked up BBQ from Shufords and took Daniel to a park for a picnic.
Later in the week Jack made Daniel a chocolate pudding pie (Daniel's favorite). Jack insisted on doing it all himself because he was a "real chef" and the pie was for "daddy's day."
Jack is getting to be more and more grown up, but I'm glad he is still little and talks about things like "daddy's day." Jack also wanted to know when it was going to be "kid's day." We told him that would be his birthday!
When Daniel finally had a day off, we all agreed to go biking. The weather was perfect and we wanted to do a longer, flat ride.
We have biked the majority of the Tennessee Riverpark (in sections) but had never started from the actual starting point at the base of Chickamauga Dam's Powerhouse.
The Chickamuaga Dam is one of Daniel's projects (they are replacing one of the locks), so Daniel was a trooper in going to one of his job sites on his day off! We drove up underneath the dam and showed the boys where Daniel works.
They were releasing a lot of water that day in anticipation of Tropical Storm Cindy. You could see how strong the current was and when we walked out on a fishing pier, it made me quite dizzy to see the water swirling below.
On this ride we saw tons of Blue Heron. We initially thought they were cranes, but informational signs along the trail let us know they were heron and what made them different was that a heron tucks its neck when it flies while a crane keeps its neck out.
We completed 8 miles (round-trip) on this ride, making two stops at the Riverpark playground for snacks and time for the kids to play.
This is definitely the flattest section of the greenway. One of these days we will have to start at the dam and go the entire length to St. Elmo.
Jack has started to add the collective mileage of the bike rides he has completed. I'm pretty sure he is pushing 100 miles if we took into account all of his neighborhood rides...
Daniel, we love you and appreciate all that you do for our family! Thank you for spending your one day off with us.
Yep you read that right. Jack biked just under 21 miles from our cottage at Whitetop Station down the mountain to Damascus on the Virginia Creeper Trail. We are still kind of surprised that he completed the ride. And with no whining or complaining.
In 2007 at our trailhead, 3 miles outside of Damascus, Virginia.
Loading up bikes for our family of four, 2017.
I have a lot of thoughts about this, and will hopefully find time to write them all down, but for now I want to share some of the photos from our trip and also take a little trip down memory lane.
Jack starting down the trail behind Daniel and Isaac, 2017
We were younger and more focused on the speed and mileage of the ride than we were on the experience. Our focus has changed a wee bit.
Me with a mountain in the distance, 2007
Jack and I with a mountain behind us, 2017
Ten years ago we rode 26.7 miles. It took us three hours to get to the top and an hour to get back to our car. This time around we biked 20.7 miles down (with two kids) and it took us six hours (which included a 1.5 hour stop for lunch at the Virginia Creeper Cafe 10 miles into the trip).
Reaching Green Cove Station, 2007
Jack arriving at Green Cove Station, 2017
Jack only mentioned once that his bottom was sore, but he never said he couldn't go on. He never cried or complained or whined. He just kept trucking. Our back-up plan for Jack was to strap his bike to the back of our trailer and let Jack ride with Isaac.
At a waterfall stop, 2007
Jack at the same waterfall stop,2017
With kids, we stopped a lot more often than when it was just the two of us. We counted every bridge that we crossed (they are numbered) –we crossed 30 of them if you are wondering; and we stopped several times to climb down the bank to the creek and throw rocks in the water. There was a slowness about this trip that was lovely.
The kids playing in the creek on one of our many breaks, 2017
We stopped at the scenic spots that Daniel and I made the effort to stop at all those years ago, but we also stopped and appreciated the quietness of the woods, and the gurgling of the stream a lot more often. Kids help you to do that – to choose slow.
Daniel riding across a hay field, 2007
Jack and Daniel riding across the same hay field and even doing the same pose, 2017
Isaac was a trooper. While we packed up for the ride, he made sure to put his toys in the trailer and he wouldn't let us forget his beloved bear. He took two good naps on the ride down, and loved getting out to play in the stream every time we stopped.
Isaac's bear rode with us down the Virginia Creeper, 2017.
On this ride we introduced Jack to the Camelbak bladder and he
carried his own water in his backpack. I think he thought that sucking
water out of a straw while you ride was the most amazing invention ever!
He drank so much water that we had to stop literally every 15 minutes
for him to pee. I wish I had taken a photo of him simultaneously peeing
in the woods and drinking from his Camelbak!
My heart about burst with pride as Jack passed this sign, 2017
As Jack passed the "Welcome to Damascus" sign my heart nearly burst with pride. I had completed this journey before and I enjoyed doing it again, but seeing my five-year-old son do it on his own gave me a joy and pride that I didn't know existed. I can't wait to do it again when Isaac is ready.
Daniel and I after a muddy, humid 26.7 mile ride up and down the Virginia Creeper, 2007
Daniel and I mid trip on a 20.7 mile ride down the Virginia Creeper, 2017
We reached the parking lot where our car was parked and Jack wanted to ride on (another mile) to the playground to play. We acquiesced. It's hard to turn down your son when he has worked so hard all day. He played while Daniel biked back to get the car and then load the bikes.
We made it to our car! After this photo, we biked an additional mile to the playground to play, 2017
Once everything, and everyone, was in the car, we drove to eat dinner. Jack fell asleep two minutes from the restaurant. Daniel carried him in and he slept in Daniel's arms while we ordered and waited for our food. When the food arrived, he woke up to eat. He must have been starving!
Jack passed out on the way to dinner, 2017
We were sure he would sleep on the drive back to the cottage. But he didn't. He didn't go back to sleep until we had made a camp fire and devoured s'mores. The next morning he was ready to bike the Virginia Creeper trail all over again! Our kids never cease to surprise us.
