Though my OB never said I should stop biking once I was pregnant with Maya, I had a whole host of complications and I made the executive decision to lay off the bike. Anything that could potentially put me — or her — at risk just seemed silly and not worth it.
Then she was born … and life as we knew it completely changed. I was lucky to get in a shower, let alone the thought of heading out for a solo bike ride.
Several months after she was born, I did my first solo ride … but it was a one time deal. I was still nursing and didn’t want to give up family time at night. We considered a bike trailer, but even last summer she was too small for it. And though we could take turns and ride solo, that didn’t seem like much fun.
Which is why this weekend’s Craig’s List purchase has me grinning from ear to ear.
You see, we’d bought a bike trailer a couple months ago but it was on back order for weeks. Frustrated, we canceled the order and have been hunting around Craig’s List, hoping to find one in good condition. Patience was key — this weekend we found a fantastic bike trailer (a two-seater) in excellent condition. And now we can get back to one of our favorite shared hobbies: biking!
We don’t have a baby helmet yet — I don’t know if we even need one; she’s completely strapped in (ETA: see comments below; yes, we are getting her one before our next ride) — but we took the trailer for a spin tonight and let me just tell you I was sooooooo happy! It was a perfect, cool, crisp Michigan eve — a nice change of pace from this summer of swelter. And Maya looooved it! This weekend she’s been all about “Wheeeee!” and “I go bye bye” so you can bet she enjoyed this little adventure.
I know we’ll get a ton of use out of it: we live right off a bike trail so there are really no excuses. More importantly, I feel like we have back a sense of freedom we’d had before baby: where we could pick up our bikes and ride to run an errand or for ice cream or just for the sake of riding. We’ve not been able to do this in nearly two years — so it’s a welcome change.
I’m looking forward to many more biking adventures ahead!
How about you? Do you have a bike trailer for your kid(s)? Any tips for riding? Tips for helmets?
