On a bicycle built for two

I used to love my bike. It was one of the first things I bought to treat myself when I was freshly divorced and my money was my own again. Ottawa is a great city for bike paths, and when we lived in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South I would love to spend a Saturday afternoon riding around, maybe up to Mooney's Bay or just up to the store and back.

Then I got pregnant with Tristan, and never could decide whether I thought a trailer or a seat was safer - and then I was pregnant with Simon and the bike sat neglected and cobwebby in the garage for a couple of years. Since Tristan started riding his bike last year, I have been idly looking for a seat or trailer for Simon, and I finally found a second-hand trailer earlier this summer for a stellar $25 - and another $30 to get my bike back into ridable shape again.

There's an old expression that intimates you never forget how to ride a bicycle. Well, let me tell you, after five years, your ass sure forgets what a bike seat feels like, and spends a lot of time complaining after the first time you ride a bike in five years. I'm just sayin'.

And riding around negotiating traffic downtown is a hell of a lot easier than riding through my suburban neighbourhood at preschooler speed. Have you ever tried to ride your bike for an hour slowly - at say, half of walking speed? It's like spinning class from hell - speed up, slow down, speed up, dead lurching stop to avoid a preschooler who stopped to pick a dandilion and make a wish. Especially fun with 40 lbs of Simon inertia rolling along behind me!

For you, I will now share pictures of my ass with the Internet. (If that doesn't class up the quality of google traffic around here, I don't know what will.)







And, because you were so sweet with your wishes and comments this week, a gratuituous birthday cake picture, because it was on the memory card, too.