Sunday, August 2, 2009

bicycles built for two

Holly chose a very adventurous activity for our last day. Sixteen people. Bicycling. In a group. It took absolutely forever for the rental company to equip sixteen people with bikes and helmets but the girls were (somewhat) patient and finally we were off.Here was the tricky part. Two of the girls in our group didn't know how to ride a bike. (I know, huh? I thought it was an American rite of passage for first graders, but I guess not.) Anyway, our plan was to rent a couple of tandems bikes and have the two girls ride with an adult. Here is what I heard coming from the back seat of my bike "WE'RE GOING TO FALL!!! OHHH, I DON'T LIKE THIS!!! I DON'T WANT TO FALL!! I WANT TO STOP!!! I KNEW I WAS GOING TO HATE THIS!!!" Then five minutes later: "Oh, this is fun. I thought I was going to hate this, but I don't. I can't wait to tell my mom I rode a bike!!" In theory, perhaps, it might have been a good idea. In reality . . . . well, we survived and actually had fun, but it was harder on the adults than we anticipated and turned the tandems back in about half way through the activity and hopped in the van and followed behind the biking group.
To start out, we circled around the city park a few times to make sure everyone was comfortable with their bike and their riding partner. Then we headed out to the streets around the harbor.
The girls did great. I wish I could have snapped a few pictures while we were riding along, it was quite a sight. We rode a few blocks and stopped at a maritime museum, then rode a good distance around the harbor and found a fun little place to eat "Big Daddy O's Beach BBQ". They served up some big food - really big! The hamburgers were as big as our heads. Then we found a gift shop for the girls to buy a few trinkets to remember their trip. All of a sudden we realized no one was watching the time and it was already 7:00! There was a mad dash to return the bikes then we headed back to the beach. Tacos for dinner, fell exhausted into bed, and felt a great deal of sadness that our trip was ending.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, I never had such a full and involved scout trip! What a really special and wonderful time for everyone!