this weekend, i rediscovered a childhood pastime... bicycling. not that bicycling is reserved *just* for childhood, like jump-ropes or hopscotch might be, but to me, it was a childhood pastime given up long ago in lieu of lazier activities.

we rode bikes regularly as kids. sometimes, it was just at play on our street. other times, it was to accompany our parents to the local beach. i have vivid memories of dreading hills (uphill *or* downhill, thank you very much - i'm not much of a speed demon either). one summer, we packed up our camping gear and headed for the san juan islands. one day's activity consisted of riding the ferry from Orcas, where we camped, to Lopez, an itsy-bitsy island with all of one school (K-12, where the senior class consisted of 3 students) and only the necessary stores and stoplights. i can still picture *the* hill. it was huge. quite steep. very long. i don't know that my sister and i even bothered trying to ride up it. my mom will tell you that alicia cried as she walked her bike up the hill - but i'm pretty sure i was doing the crying. or at least, i was crying too.

so, i don't have much in the way of fond bicycling memories. lots of hills. not many great experiences. so when matt has suggested a bike ride, i've always had an excuse.

"eh, it's just not my thing."

"i'm kinda nervous on the roads. i don't want to be around traffic." (a fabulous excuse that has served me well, since seattle is known for it's traffic.)

"i don't have a helmet."

but last week, mom mentioned that she'd biked one of her old routes, which includes the Seattle City Right-of-Way, a wide alley-like road, only to find that it had been paved as a continuance of the Interurban Trail. still wide, with room for bikes and pedestrians, and tons of shoulder room for dogs.

saturday morning, as i was working in the yard, mom showed up on her bike planning to drop it at our house and run one of her old routes. not even 2 minutes out of my driveway, she came back and suggested that she help with the yardwork instead. since matt and i were already toying with a bike ride up to see the trail, she talked us in to riding back with her when we'd finished our yardwork. it took us a few minutes to get the bikes tuned up enough to ride, but once we were on the road, i discovered what i'd been missing.

there's an amazing feeling in cruising along with the wind blowing in your face - especially on a warm, sunny day. we rode all the way up to the end of the trail, said goodbye to my mom and headed back, stopping for a few minutes to snack on warm blackberries dangling in the sun. halfway home, we detoured into the cemetary - beautiful, park-like grounds with paved roads and quiet ponds. the whole trek must've been just over an hour, and just enough excercise that our tails have been complaining ever since.

so, in the past 48 hours, i've thought about bike riding roughly 572 times. we'd planned to go out again last night after dinner, only to find that my bike had a flat that we weren't able to get repaired before dusk. we were disappointed, but looking forward to our next ride. we bought helmets yesterday, looked for necessary accessories (water-bottle holder for me, bike lock for matt, etc) and even found ourselves a free bike-rack for the car. maybe i've finally found a sport i really could love...