A long overdue update!!

Well it has been seven months since I have updated this blog, and a lot of cycling has been done in that time.  Between August and Christmas we went for a ride most weekends, mostly just repeating the rides we have done before, but gradually extending the distance.  My favourite ride is still the one round the sea going to Monaco past the Honest Lawyer and then riding all the way around Monaco. You have to judge the tide though so you can actually get around via the beach. The last time I tried this the tide was just going out and the sand was very sticky. You had to be in the correct gear to get enough momentum to push your way out of it. I ended up walking most of that portion!!!

Warren and I were really looking forward to the Christmas holidays when our son Aaron, daughter-in -law Jen and our two grand-children Harry and Molly would be down. They were all looking forward to going out riding with us. I had spent a lot of time on Trade Me looking for suitable bikes so they would all have their own one to ride. We picked up two good adult sized bikes for Aaron and Jen. I also found a 6 speed 20 inch bike that was suitable for Harry who was  6 1/2 at Christmas. I had bought a 16 inch a year or so ago for Harry but decided that he really needed a 20 inch, so Molly who is 4 ended up riding it instead of the smaller one she had.

We also thought that Molly would tire out easily so started investigating other options for her. We ended up buying a trailgator off Trade Me which is a connecting bar that joins a child's bike on to an adult's bike. They can ride on their own until they have had enough and then connect them to another bike and they can get towed. This worked out brilliantly. Molly would bike about 2 kms and then Granddad would hitch her bike up and tow her the rest of the way.

 We went for three different rides while the family were here. All of them ended up at a playground so the kids could have a play and then ride back to the van. I think the longest distance we did was 4 km but that wasn't too bad, seeing none of them have done any serious riding.

I am looking forward to doing some longer rides with them the next time they are down. Harry loved his 6 speed bike and after a couple of practice rides down the little street next to our house he got confident enough to be able to change gears. On one of the rides Aaron and Harry rode a bit further than us and we picked them up when they reached the recycle centre.