Just Like Riding a Bike

For the last several days, my mother-in-law has been out visiting us from California. She's a lovely, petitie woman, who is full of life and energy (and who happens to walk faster than anyone I have ever met, despite her 4'11" frame). Unfortunately, her visit coincided with the arrival of a flu/cold for me and the day she arrived it took everything in me to put clothes on and smile at her as Sam walked in the door after picking her up from the airport. It's amazing what the flu can do to our bodies and mental state.

Despite my tiredness and general lethargic state of being, we decided we would give a bike ride a try the day following her arrival. My mother-in-law has not been on a bicycle in 30+ years, so I was a little nervous to see how things would go. I was fairly certain if we put the saddle all the way down she would do fine on my loop frame Public as far as size was concerned, but I had a bit of fear that she would not remember how to ride or that she'd topple over on her first go.

A bit camera shy, my mother-in-law didn't make it into a photo

After Sam put the saddle down (and fixed a flat that happened randomly while the bike sat in its parking spot), she got on to test it out. To my utter surprise, my lovely M-I-L took off with ease, pedaling in circles and just trying to make sure she knew where everything is on the bike. 

Ultimately, we went for a fairly short ride into town, but it was such a great experience to see someone who hadn't been on a bike in decades enjoying herself. While riding I couldn't help but proclaim, "I guess there's a reason for the saying about never forgetting how to ride a bike." She laughed and added, "Yup. It really is 'just like riding a bike.'"