I did a crazy thing the other day.
We were just getting the bikes hooked up for a family bike ride, when I remembered we were out of milk. I looked at the clock–there wouldn’t be time to fetch it before a ride, nor after. We would have to do both simultaneously.
Jeremy gave me that look that he does when he’s trying to figure out why he married such a crazy woman. I argued that I would be the one pulling the extra load so that gave me the final word in the debate. He willingly arranged the three one-gallon glass containers I had handed to him into the back of the bike trailer with a towel stuffed between for padding.
And we were off. Seth is always laughing with delight before we even get to the end of the driveway. We all love family bike rides.
Jesse pedaled along behind Jeremy, full of his usua, 5 year old, trying-to-figure-out-the-whole-world questions. “Which way are we going, Mamma?”
“Left!”
“Why?”
“We’re gonna get milk!”
We’re blessed to have an Amish farm with a Jersey herd just down the road that’s willing to sell us raw milk at milking time. Yeah, it’s a couple of miles, but we usually do 4-6 miles on our after-dinner family bike rides, so I thought it was doable.
We made it to the farm easily (it’s a slight incline most of the way…) and as I filled our jugs from the bulk tank, The Farmer came in from the barn. He glanced out the window.
“Ahh, so that’s why I didn’t here ye pull up! That’s quite a set up ya have there…I like it!”
“Yeah”, I replied, “It makes up for not having a horse and buggy.”
The Farmer laughed. He likes my jokes.
Pulling out of the driveway, I asked Jeremy how much a gallon weighs.
“Eight pounds.”
“Yikes – 24 Lbs! It’s like I added a third child to the load!”
He just smiled. He never has to say “I told you so.”
I will conclude this story with the simple statement--I got a good workout on the way home.
And the next bike ride we went on, we headed up-hill, so the ride home was down-hill all the way…
P.S. I have to say it was incredibly satisfying to go and fetch milk on my own pedal-power. I think I’ll do it again.
Okay, so I don’t use it to go pick up raw milk, but there is definitely something empowering about cycling for more than just exercise. I’ve biked to visit friends (10 miles one way), pick up library books, buy groceries, go thrift store shopping, attend church…
Living in the country growing up, bikes were a huge part of our recreation. I even took my bike to college! But after getting married, the bike stayed at my parents’. After a few years of marriage, my hubby got into cycling pretty seriously, so determined I needed a bike again. He found one in the ditch on the side of the road (seriously!), fixed it up for me, got me a lovely basket for the front, and away I went. (I still remember laughing with my best friend upon seeing that old bike in the back of the SUV… “And he really thinks I’m going to ride it!” Never say never!) I rode that bike into the ground and then was without one for about a year. We decided it was time to upgrade, since a bike was like a car for me (we’ve always been a one vehicle family). Thankfully, the bike was not one the items involved in “The Great Purge” prior to our AK move. 🙂 It’s been great to get back on it since we’ve been home. Never mind that I’m just a BIT out of shape…
It makes me want to break out my bike–I haven’t really used it since nursing school (While I was in school I biked the six miles to school and back fequently.)
Love it. I would be tempted to do the same except… well, our raw milk is directly across the road. 🙂 I DO have to workout, though, to get it. Those milkers weigh like thirty pounds each (okay, maybe more like fifteen but by the end it FEELS like thirty.)
And, there have been many times that I have done the entire milking with a toddler on my hip. Now THAT is a workout. I should have arm muscles the size of Popeye.
Yes, I thought you were going up hill on the way to and then downhill on the way back, too. I wish we had a place to ride with out having to pack up the bikes.
I’ve started to use my bike for errands more often, but I don’t have to worry about little children. I think if I were you, I would have traded trailers with your husband.
I thought about that, Pam – without the milk, Jeremy assures me the trailer is easier then the tow bar. With the milk, yeah, it’s a little more, but it WAS my idea. LOL
I’m glad the incline was on that way there, not the way home!
Even living in town we really don’t have a place to ride bikes (the roads are too narrow or bumpy). I’m glad you felt “empowered” after your haul 🙂
Wait, it WAS uphill on the way home with the milk! But it really was empowering…even if I was barely moving with the bike in the highest gear most of the way…