Rewind to August 18, 2012: Last July Tyler finally learned to ride her bike without training wheels (see August 4, 2012 blog posting). Two weeks later, on my birthday, we (Phil) suggested the family take an "adventuresome" bike ride at the Waterfall Glen forest preserve. He had read that this was the most scenic and most challenging bike trail in DuPage County; 10 miles of twists, turns, and lots and lots of hills. Big hills. Oh, and a cool waterfall. So, off we went, Tyler with two full weeks of bike riding experience, off on the trek of a lifetime. Phil also suggested that Tyler bring her "big" bike, because it had gears for those hills, though she'd never ridden that bike without falling.
So off we went, the adventure seeking Kullen family, off on a fantastic family day of bike riding. We made it about 20 feet before Tyler took her first fall, which a weaker family would take as a sign of the day ahead. Not us - we were still determined our incredibly strong new bike rider would make it. Unbeknownst to us, this was the first fall of many throughout the day. Her bike was too tall to safely start and stop the bike and her gear shift was too stiff for her to switch the gears, so she was on a 10 mile rigorous ride with a bike she couldn't keep upright during a stop and she had to keep in first gear. Not good. So about two hours in to the ride, we had the worst fall of the day; We were headed downhill on a straightway hill that made a quick right turn at the bottom. I was leading the group, Tyler in the middle, and Phil in the rear. As we headed down the steep hill, I was again reminding Ty to slow down, slow down - brake, brake, brake!!! Because her bike was in first gear, her pedals were spinning about a hundred miles an hour, feet were straight out to her sides so they didn't get hit by the spinning pedals, and her hands were squeezing her handles, completely missing the break levers. As I slowed down, she picked up speed, passing me as if I were tied to a tree. Phil and I watched as she rode right through the dead end of the trail through a section of weeds and disappeared behind them, quickly followed by a large rising puff of dust. As we approached, we discovered the weeds stopped the momentum of the careening bike, but she flew through the weeds into the gravel path that hid behind. We were fortunate the injuries were badly skinned knees, hands, elbows and the like. And as you may have guessed, we "Parents of the Year" had no first aid kit - not even a single band-aid.
There were many tears shed as Phil and I stood there contemplating our options. Here we are, about five miles into a 10 mile trail, with a broken kid and no simple way out. What the heck were we going to do. I remember Phil suggesting that he take Ty on his bike and I would ride my bike while holding her bike. Um, yea, impossible. Next. We determine the only way out is for Tyler to get back on her bike. What we didn't realize was that the next mile is the most rigorous portion of the trail, entirely uphill and very, very difficult. Phil rode next to her for most of it, pushing her as she rode, and I struggled on my own. We rode about a half hour before stopping and resting on the side of the trail. We had no idea what the rest of the trip entailed but we decided we couldn't make another 5 miles. We decided that Phil would go on without us to get our car, and would meet us at the next available parking lot. He left us with the last of our water (probably 1/4 cup and half of an old granola bar that was kept in his bike pack for emergency.) Tyler and I sat there on the side of the path, both completely spent, as I tried to encourage her (and myself) that we could make it- we are two very strong girls. At some point during the pep talk she chimed in and said, "Mom, this is definitely the worst day of my life and you'll always remember it because it's on your birthday." It was really funny in a terribly sad way. We finished our "snack" and made our way up the seemingly never ending hills. Eventually we made it back to Phil and the car, and have since managed to work through the emotional and physical trauma we went through that day.
Fast forward 13 months to about a week ago. One night during dinner I made the suggestion to the family that we go back again to Waterfall Glen to bike this trail again. Tyler's immediate response was "oh no, no way", but once I pointed out that she's a year older, is more experienced, is way stronger and has a fantastic new bike, she agreed this would be great challenge and a huge milestone if she accomplished it.
So early Sunday morning off we went, this time prepared with awesome bikes, a first aid kit, a terrific picnic lunch, plenty of water, great attitudes and confidence. We had an incredibly fun day, devoid of a single fall or injury. We enjoyed lunch and a hike at the waterfall and finished the experience with an unbelievable feeling of accomplishment. It was incredibly fun and rewarding revisiting and reminiscing at all the areas Ty struggled last year. Yet another challenge met and milestone achieved by our amazing, inspiring daughter!
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