Different topography

There's a terrific trail system that runs through and around Red Deer, and along Red Deer River. You can hike or bike in the summer, and in the winter it can be used for cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. We went for a really nice family bike ride on Saturday morning. Apparently I've always lived on flat land. Never in my life have I had to change the gears on my bicycle. I did when I first got my bike, just to make sure it worked, or in the occasional ho-hum moment, but I have never actually used them. Saturday changed all that.

As we rode down the first hill, thoughts like, "Wow, I don't remember ever going this fast on a bicycle before," and Sam raising his hand in the air while screaming, "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" in the trailer attached to my bike were my initial clues that we weren't in Kansas anymore. The subsequent ascent was when I fully realized the magnitude of the situation. Once I got my bike on the very lowest gear, we were in business. There was much back and forth with the gear switching for the rest of the ride and by the end I was a pro. My only hiccups were when Andy would get started up an incline and just couldn't make it, so we'd stop and walk the bikes up to the peak and then continue riding. But that only happened once or twice - I was impressed that he was able to keep up most the time! I guess his next bike will have to be a multi-speed. (Do they make multi-speed bikes for 6 going on 7 year-olds?) His current bike is getting a little small for him, and Sam is hankerin' for a bike of his own (he does have a scooter and Big Wheel), but we'll probably wait for next summer since the snow will be coming in just a few more months!