It’s been a while since we’ve done any family rides. We had planned a bike trip this summer, but then a few weeks ahead of the trip we discovered a crack in my frame near the seatpost. Long story short, my bike was out of commission for a while and we had to cancel the trip.

Anne wants to do Cinderella again this year. It’s a women’s only organized ride she’s done many times, mostly with Ruth attached in some manner. To prepare, and just for general family fun, she’s suggested we start doing rides again on the weekends. This is the first.

The Mission loop is a favorite local ride of ours. It’s a simple 25 mile loop without any sustained climbs. Something we can do without thinking too much about it.

It was about 40 when we got started, and didn’t get above 50 on the ride. Between getting warm clothes ready and generally getting all the bikes together, we didn’t get rolling until after 9:30 — long after our target.

Other than the cold, the weather was quite nice. We hit a small amount of headwinds on Mission, but that meant tailwinds on the sometimes-dragging return. Traffic was fine, and the kids mostly seemed to be having fun. On the one big downhill, Max excitingly yelled “I’m holding on for dear life” repeatedly.

It was nice to get on the bikes together, but I’m clearly out of practice. I’ve been bike commuting some, though not more than one round-trip a week. And it’s harder with Max in a trailer. Still, I’m looking forward to more of these rides.