Not Such a Brilliant Idea

So yesterday I had the grand idea that to get my exercise in for the day I was going to pull The Boy in the bike trailer and ride over to the library to return my books. The morning looked foggy and dreary, but I just figured it was the Calfornia gloom and nothing would come of it. Not so. About 5 minutes down the road it started misting. That was ok, because the jogger is waterproof and I was fine with the misting.

::side note::
Let me tell you about the greatest invention ever - portable DVD players. Word. I just pop in A Bug's Life and I can ride with no peeps from The Boy whatsoever. Before I realized bringing it would be a great idea, I'd get 10 minutes down the road and The Boy would be screaming to go home or to take his helmet off. Don't get me wrong, he still complains about the helmet, but I can distract him with the movie and pretzels, so it's all good. I think I'll start a business called Pimp My Bike Trailer and I'll do custom installs for cool stuff to keep your kids occupied so you can ride longer.

Ok, back to the story. Well, the ride seemed especially hard. My thighs were burning from not having ridden for over a week. Don't get me wrong, I'm still exercising, I just wasn't riding. So, my legs are burning, it's misting and I feel like I'm pulling a 300lb man behind me! I know The Boy weighs about 30lbs and I figure the trailer is at least 15lbs, so that means I'm pulling around 45lbs when I ride. That's a good workout in and of itself! Then, I had 10 hardback chapter books, 15 hardback picture books, and my purse in the storage compartment. It felt like those books weighed 250lbs. So I'm struggling through the rain, the weight of the trailer, my thighs are burning, and I'm just screaming inside - JUST KEEP GOING! I come to the hill to climb up to the road that I need to take to the library and I can't even climb that thing pulling The Boy on a good day, so I hop off and push it up the hill. The terrible thing is that the side of the bike trail comes onto the road on the southbound side, so I had to go back down the hill, under the road, and then push the bike back up an even steeper hill. The thing has a switch back - that's how steep it is. Bleh!

So I get to the top and The Boy is freaking out because he wants his helmet off. I rip open the cover and I'm about to chew into him when I see his little face and hold back. I explain that we're back on the road with the cars (just then one zooms right by us) and so he definitely has to keep it on for safety. He seems find with that explanation and stops crying. I get to coast down the hill to the library and I'm thinking that this is so awesome and then I realize I have to climb back up the hill to get back to the bike path. I was halfway tempted to just ride home a different way take the road all the way home, but I don't really like to be on the road when I'm pulling The Boy.

We pull up to the library and it isn't open yet. I had planned to let The Boy play at the park there, but by then it was totally raining, so that was out. It was a good thing there is a drop box, so I dumped my books and started the ride home. That hill back up to the bike trail was KILLER! I was screaming at myself all the way. And wouldn't you know, right before the steepest climb, there is a stop sign. Whatever, I just rolled right through that thing because I wasn't losing my momentum. I got to the top without dying or stop or pushing. I had to hop off at the top of the trail because The Boy was freaking out again. So, I got him situated and assured him that we were on the way home.

The ride home was a little easier, but by the time I got back to the road to my neighborhood, I was dying. My legs were like Jello. I'm sure the people driving by wondered why I was driving in the rain and going to slow. We made it home and life is good again.

When I told Will about my experience, he asked if I needed air in the trailer tires. DUH! That's what my problem was. So, I'll be sure to fill those puppies before we take off on aother ride.

I've been walking at 5:45 with two of my friends and it is the greatest! I get to chat with friends, I get it done early, and there is something to make me get it done. Well, this morning when I stepped outside it was kind of misting. We have a rule that if it's raining we don't walk. However, it wasn't really raining and I didn't want to be the only one that didn't show up. However, if the other two decided it was "raining" I didn't want to have to walk back in the dark and the rain alone. So, I hopped in the truck and drove up to where I meet my first friend. I probably scared her to death when I pulled up beside her in the dark and yelled her name! So, she hops in and we drive up to where we meet the 2nd friend. We thought we saw her, so I start to pull over to let my 1st friend out so they can hang while we park. Well, it wasn't her! So, I'm sure we freak another person out because we pull next to them, in the dark, open the door, my friend is hooded and starts hop out toward the poor stranger. She quickly realizes it isn't friend #2 and hops back in to the car. So, we find a parking spot in the 2nd friend's development and see her just rounding the corner out to the path. So we run after her and we yell her name as soon as we hit the main road. Make that a third person I helped freak out that morning. The walk was great, but by the time we hit the turn around point it started really raining. We were so soaked! Friend #1 had me drive her home so she didn't have to walk back in the pouring rain and I was glad I had the truck so I didn't have to walk home in the rain.

Well, that's enough crazy stories for one day. Today we had a very calm day with a visit from my SIL and her little boy. He's about a year younger than The Boy and they were so hilarious to watch try and play together. I helped my SIL with her blog and she helped me with a sewing pattern. It was the perfect trade! Tomorrow we have a playdate with some new friends and Friday is the ward park day. Fun times!