we barely made it back in one piece

Last week Mike pulled Abby's very first Dora bike down out of the top of the garage, dusted it off, put the training wheels back on it and presented it to a very excited MyPie. She took to it like a duck to water. Jammed her bike helmet on her head and she was off pedaling down the street with barely a look back. We took a bit of time with her, showing her how the brakes worked and how to turn it around and she was good to go. So much so that I thought a family bike ride would be a good idea. Mike had a meeting to go to, so it was just me and the girls. No problem, I can manage it.



So off we go. Abby's way out front because she's 7 and an old pro at this bike ride thing. She also knows that she can't turn the corner until I catch up to her. So there she sits, off her bike waiting for her sister and I to catch up. I am pedaling so slow, I really have no idea how I'm even keeping the bike upright so I can stay with Maya, who's doing pretty great but she's not setting any land speed records.

Wouldn't you know it she had a sudden burst of speed as we got to the corner. She was ahead of me at this point and the corner was fast approaching, a wheelchair accessible corner. I start yelling at her to stop. To use her brakes. To pedal backwards. Instead of doing any of that, she panics and does this.....



And rolls right out into the road! Abby's standing at the corner watching the whole thing unfold, so I start yelling at her to grab her sister and get her off the road. Luckily there was no traffic at that corner, although there was a gentleman in a car traveling parallel to us. Abby leaps into action, grasping Maya's bike by the handle bars and hauling it back up on the sidewalk, but she was so focused on saving her sister she pulled it right out from underneath Maya in the process. So now the bike is safely on the sidewalk and Maya is a crying, hysterical heap on the road. I look over at the guy stopped at the stop sign and he's laughing his face off at the chaos I have at my feet.

Well that just awoke the big sister bear in Abby.... Why is that guy laughing at my sister?!! Doesn't he know she's only 4 years old and she's just learning?!! He shouldn't laugh at her!! Who does he think he is?!!

Oh my she was irate(!!) and now that Maya was safely back on the sidewalk I couldn't do anything but laugh either. At that point it seemed best to cut our losses. I'm not sure how, but we managed to get ourselves turned around and back home without further incident. And it will be quite some time before I take them both bike riding by myself. And after an extensive braking lesson, Maya seems to have actually mastered the brakes. I don't think I'm confident enough to test her skills in a high pressure situation, though.