Test Drive

One night in June, the babies were in bed and Ada was already in her pajamas. I whispered, "Hey Ada, let's go try out Tera's new bike!"

She wasn't sure, but she followed me outside as we found our shoes and helmets. When I dawdled a bit looking for my sweater and wallet, Ada called to me to hurry, hurry hurry!

We got the bike, and as I started up our street Ada exhorted me to not go on the very bumpy street. I promised and we made our way down the more newly paved streets in our neighborhood. Three blocks into our trip, Ada declared, "I want a bike like this one!" By the time we made it to the bank, Ada was ecstatic, jumping around in her pajamas with the joyful enthusiasm I had hoped she'd feel about the experience.

On the way back I took a different route, but Ada did not mind the bumps. She loved the downhill and insisted I try a short but steep uphill nearby. Amazingly, getting up the hill was easy. (Part of it is our pal Tera's super-light bike, but Ada on the xtracycle didn't add much to the load.)

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We have a trailer, which we use with some regularity. Now that Ian and Mira are old enough to bike with us, we are looking for a new ride-along solution for Ada. I can't really pull three kids in the trailer (it is only rated for 100 pounds, which the three together are almost at now) and there isn't really room for all three together. We considered getting a tag-along, but Ada got a little nervous when we tried to ride a friend's and she found out that it is a little wiggly.

Last night I picked up my bike from the local bike shop that did the conversion for us. After the babies were in bed, Ada and I hopped on and took it for a spin. I think she cackled the entire ride. Just wait until we go for ice cream on that thing; her joy could send her so high that I will have to peel her off the ceiling.

Truth be told, I am pretty thrilled too.