Bad Hair, Bad Outfit, Skinned Knees, But Nice Ride

The Tuesday after Labor Day Weekend was the day that my son started his new school. It was also the day that I was determined to get off my slippery slope and ride my bike.

Our morning started out OK. I had trouble finding a bike-to-work outfit so we left a bit later than I would have liked.

We had bought Parker a new lunchbox for school and it did not fit in the little bike bag I was using. I found my bungee cord and strapped the lunchbox on top of the bike bag. That took a little time and now I was leaving much later than I wanted. Still I was determined to ride the bike.

Initially, the ride was pretty nice. Nice morning, not too hot but looked like it would be a nice, sunny and warm day. I felt good about getting on the bike. My son seemed happy to ride.

Then the lunchbox fell off. At this point I'm thinking I should have taken the hint that it was not the right day to be on the bike.


I had wardrobe trouble, trouble with securing the lunchbox and we almost lost the lunch. (Special thanks to the lady who helped me pick up the box and get it back on the bike.)

Next, I overshot the turn for the new school and had to backtrack. I brushed that off too. It is a new routine and I need to create new habits. At the new school, I had trouble with my bike lock and it took me about 10 minutes to lock the bike up.

In retrospect, this ride was not meant to happen. I found that out for sure when I got to the new school and they were closed and having an in-service day.

My son was sad. He cried. That made me sad and I was frustrated.

I contacted my work and said I had childcare problems and would be late. I told my son we would play at the park, this made him less sad but he still was disappointed about not playing at the new school.

I had pushed through many setbacks, kept going and then this! I had trouble, again, with my bike lock and in the ten minutes that I fussed with the lock my son fell and skinned his knees. He cried, again.

I rode my bike home. We did stop at the park and my son played. I called grandma and she agreed to watch my son and by 11:30 I was back on my bike riding to work.

This was a tough morning. It still would have been tough if I had been in the car, but I have to admit I think it would have been considerably less tough.

By the time I got to work I was tired, mentally drained, in a bad outfit, my shirt had blood on it from the skinned knees and I had a halo of helmet hair. I had to work late to make up for the morning. It was a bad day.

I felt good about handling all the snafus. I never felt good about my outfit or helmet hair.

The next ride will be better.

I Got on the Slippery Slope: No Bike Ride for TWO WEEKS

The good kind of Slippery Slope that we use
when we bike home.

What do all the things in this list have in common?

My work got busy.

I had to travel.

I had to lug equipment.

I was tired.

I worked from home.

I had errands to run.

I overslept.

These are all reasons (excuses) I gave over the last two weeks that prevented me from riding my bike to work.  

My son even asked, “Ride bike?” and I said, “No, not today.”  I missed a lot by not riding my bike.  I especially felt the effects of not getting exercise.  I am not sure if there was more stress but I do know that it was harder to shake the stress.  It took longer for me to fall asleep and wake up and I was tired and less motivated to do anything.

I sure missed the whimsical time with my son on the ride.  We do things like stop to look at a dump truck, ride over a bridge that is out of the way, sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame together, talk about the boats we want to ride and what seaplane we will take to the islands someday.  My son wants to take a blue plane but it looks a little rickety to me and I am pushing for a white one that looks like it has a few less miles on it.

My car commute is about 10 minutes one way; my bike commute is about 30 minutes one way.  I spend about an hour each day riding my bike or 20 minutes each day in my car. For a working mom, 40 minutes is a lot of time and time is the most valuable thing to me.  For my birthday, I just want a little time, time to do something or even do nothing.

When I look at all the effects of not riding, the 40 minutes that I added to my commute could be the best 40 minutes of my day. When I am behind or overwhelmed, it seems so beneficial to drive and I get that 40 minutes back. In reality, the benefits of the exercise are what really help me stay on top of things and help me deal with stress, and I get more done with a better attitude.

That’s what I mean by slippery slope -- I am running late so I drive, so I do not exercise, so I take my stress home with me and my stress causes me to toss and turn in bed, and I get to sleep late so I have a hard time waking up, and then I am running late so I take the car, again, and again, and again. 

This week, I will now break the cycle and ride my bicycle.