Baggin' Puddles

That's a big one!

Sunday I took my first ride of the year with my son. He isn't quite so ready to ride in inclement weather, and really, we haven't been snow and ice free for all that long anyway. Well, as it has been a long Winter, which pushed back Spring by a month, at least, this isn't all that surprising.

That is what it is, but now we are ready to share some rides together again. The last was in December of last year. Been far too long!

Anyway, he wanted to hit the alleyways that thread behind many of the residences here and are primarily dirt with copious amounts of mud puddles in them right now. The plan was to splash through as many as we could find in an hour or so. We donned our wet weather coats and headed off in whatever direction suited his fancy.

Since he was so engrossed in the hunt for the next mud puddle, he took us into territory he had never ridden into before East of where we live in the older parts of the city. I had to chuckle when he looked up and he thought he had been there before, when plainly he had never been down that particular alleyway before. No matter. We were having fun, and since I decided to take the Snow Dog, I was finding all the bits of mud to float through as well.

Rest stop

Jacob had squirreled away some energy bars in his jacket and asked if we could stop to eat them. I agreed to this plan, but I did not wish to eat in an alleyway! I suggested we find a bit more pleasant spot to stop, and so we meandered over to a large open field near our house where we could sit in the grass.

I brought a couple of water bottles and we shared our goodies on the ever greening grass of Spring. We ate and drank and then we chased each other around for a bit in a game of tag. Then it was time to head on back home.

Looking ahead I am going to replace the handle bar and grips on the boy's bike. Something a wee bit wider and grips with a bit more bulk that lock on for his big ol' paws. I replaced the platform pedals just before our ride and he appreciated the bigger, grippier pedal over the stock plastic bits the bike came with. Oh, and I have been secretly jacking up his seat height without him noticing as well. He's growing, and I am trying to keep up with that!

Maybe I will stick a rear rack on it too. The end goal is to take him on an overnight bikepacking trip to the local State Park when school is out. That should be a scene!