Today is the greatest day I've ever had!

So Zachary my darling husband took off a half day of work to have lunch at the park with me. What a beautiful day it has been. The weather has finally turned around.  Yea! (We are not holding our breath though) It is so beautiful to get out as a family and to be with one another. We went to the post office and saw people we knew. We got to talk about the xtracycle(always a pleasure) and watch Ren enjoy the river and the birds.  

We also got to use the xtracycle for a picnic table as well!

So much fun. We figured that last week I rode about 90 miles including my work commute and a trip 30 mile trip this weekend.  What a great weekend. Saturday morning we loaded the laundry on the xtracycle and headed out to the laundry mat. As we were traveling down the hill we saw what we thought was some water on the path. It was 8 in the morning so we didn't think it was ice.  Well it was.  Dale took a spill first. Then Zac turned and yelled "ICE" to me.  He went down sliding for about 7 ft. While I was watching him I realized I was going down.  We both got up and checked first, the baby.  She was perfectly alright sleeping great and hadn't even been jarred.  Thank you Chariot!

We checked Dale and the bikes and the laundry (didn't budge either) and all was well. We said a quick prayer of gratitude and headed right back down the mountain.

Me reenacting Zacs fall. Notice the gash in the ice. That is from the bike skidding on it's side. Nice. Other than this crash the rest of the day went pretty uneventful.  We did enjoy some beautiful weather on our Saturday. Today though was so beautiful. I love my family and being out in God's creations.  I will miss this beautiful place that we have been so fortunate to live. Maybe someday we will find a place like this again.  

Dale, the laundry and Ren. 

Me and Zac first day on the xtra.

Dont like the weather wait 10 min

Yesterday my wife commented on her morning commute and how awesome it is. As of today i will have to agree as I accompanied her and karen this morning. Being from Las Vegas originallythis whole snow thing is still new to me, but still snow at the end of April is just a little ridiculous. However we awoke to snow and slush and enough of it that i wanted to go with them and make sure they made it alright to there destination. Krysta is an excellent bike rider and Karen is an excellent passenger but being a dad and a husband I could not help but be concerned not only for them but for the smack i would get from my boss who can not comprehend why we would willingly give up our car for bicycles. So I decided to be the escort i would ride the xtra and pull Karen and Krysta would ride my wobbly wheeled cruiser. This made for an interesting ride since i had the better bike even with the weight difference i was cruising along while my poor wife had to hobble along on the cruiser fighting hard to keep up. We got her to where she babysits and all was well i gave her a kiss changed my wet shoes for the dry pair I brought along ( the xtracycle still does not have fenders, my bad) and off i went it did not take me long to realize two things. 1. my wife is superwoman my cruisers rear wheel was way out of tune not to mention the p.s.i was way down. 2. i love to ride no matter the circumstances. It was so nice to get out and ride that my wet pants and feet really did not mean a thing we saw some amazing views of the clouds hugging the mountains, and river and streams trying hard to keep the momentum they have gained the last two weeks, it was just down right beautiful. I am very jealous Krysta gets to ride this route every day when I only have to walk across the street to my work not nearly as inspiring. Starting the day off with this ride was great i felt awake alert and ready for work 10 miles was a perfect distance. I can not wait for our move to Provo when this will be a common distance for me to ride.

Zac

My morning commute

So I've been babysitting for this really great lady for about a month and a half and I used to ride the bus to her house.  But because we live in a ski resort town the bus comes less frequently and later because it's slack season. So I ride my bike which has become really nice to be out so early in the morning. I couldn't ask for a better commute.  I can ride the bike path the whole way without crossing any major roads! (Big bonus of our mountian town :)It's a really gradual decline with a few little hills.  Zac and I got on google to see how far it is and it's 5 miles! Right on. I know it doesn't seem like much but after a long snowy winter and a baby, I am really proud to be able to take the carrier with Ren on the back.  It takes me about a half an hour to complete the whole trip and 40 min. home ( the huge hill way). I love the ride because it is just enough challenge to get me going plus it felt great today of all days this year cuz its Earth Day!! So I gave the earth a great present by enjoying all the beauties it has to offer.  Plus I get to see everything wake up in the morning; the birds, the flowers, the trees, the sun, and all the cute kids going to school. Ren has done well on the rides as well.  She sleeps so well in the trailer.  I do have to say that I did have a mishap the other day.  We got about halfway to our destination and Ren decided she hadn't had enough breakfast so I had to stop under a bridge and feed her. Not that fun but part of being a mom, right!?(plus Zac got a kick out of it when I told him later) Really that early in the morning I was not worrying about being modest. Just feed the kid and get going. It worked out well.

Living it up car free! Baby

As avid bicycle riders we have been really contemplating all this hype we've been hearing about going car free. So we did just that.  We got rid of the car, bought some rocking bicycle gear including an Xtracycle and Chariot trailer (for the little one) and hit the road.  We want to inspire people to get out once in awhile, park the car and take some time to ride a bike. We want to help people realize that going without a car isn't that difficult and is very rewarding not just environmentally or monetarily speaking. Do you remember that great feeling you had when you first learned to ride a bike.  That feeling never goes away.  It just gets more rewarding as you find yourself becoming more accomplished as well as realizing anything is possible with those 2 wheels and a chain! So park that car for a day take a trip to the market, jump on your bikes and ride your kids to school. Just get out and ride, cuz if can't enjoy whats out your backdoor how can you learn to really enjoy what is out in the rest of this great big world.