Dear Crabby, How can I enjoy bike rides with my family?

Dear Crabby,

My family wants me to go for bike rides with them, but I am just not that interested in biking. Have you ever dealt with that? What can I do to change my attitude about it?

Sincerely, Not Lance Armstrong

Dear Not Lance Armstrong,

I do know a little about this topic. My daughter thinks the old spare tire around my waist is a little big for my britches. So she convinced me to buy a new bicycle this year, even though my old one was just fine. It was only 30 years old and was just getting broken in! So after trying desperately to not spend any money, I broke down and spent three to four times more than I wanted to. My intention was to get out and get the old ticker pumping and help shed some of the excess weight that had stuck on over the last 20 winters. However, on my first ride of the year I nearly lost my life! Thankfully, I had been convinced to wear a helmet over the last several years, even though I had never fallen on my bike. Anyway, on this first trip we rode up to a nice State Park about a mile from our house and did a little off road trail which led to the main paved path. We rode a couple miles down the paved path and my daughter asked if I was alright or if we should head back. I said that I was fine, but that we should head back so as not to push it on our first ride out. We turned back and were having just a delightful experience. That is until I came to a ditch in the grass right before the road we needed to cross. My daughter rode across and I noticed a car coming so I decided to stop. I hadDearCrabby not realized that my front tire was on high ground and so was my rear tire, leaving my foot a long distance to the bottom of the ditch. I went down like a lead balloon! Thankfully I was fine, except for my pride, which was only crushed worse as my daughter was cracking up! She said that as she turned around to look for me, I was gone, then suddenly a little head with a helmet peeked up from the ditch waving his hand and she just couldn”t resist. Well, I wish that was the worst of it. But a minute later, as we were exiting the park, there was a narrow pathway that only had room for one bike at a time. My daughter signaled for me to go first so I did. All of the sudden out if nowhere, someone was coming through from the opposite direction! I locked up my brakes which caused me and my rear tire to go straight up in the air, only to come crashing down with the grace of a hippo on a unicycle! Of course, this made her laugh even harder than my previous ditch experience. I was fine again, and left with only a wounded ego. Needless to say, she had a blast and started making plans for the next trip. You might assume that I would have ended my biking career right then and there, but I will tell you, I have kept up my riding and I am in much better shape because of it. And as a bonus, I have not fallen anymore either! So give it a try; it only gets better!

Sincerely, Dear Crabby

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Stuck in a rut? Need some biased advice from a crabby old baby-boomer? Read regularly by thousands and loved by some, Dear Crabby answers questions weekly to life's challenges. Send him a note at editor@rochestermedia.com.

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