...and They're OFF!!!

I had to check back through my pictures to see that the girls got their bikes on May 1.  It’s hard to believe it’s only been a month since they got their wheels!

I can't get over how "professional" they look in their helmets!  Tour de France, here we come!!!

Thanks to their training wheels, the girls could ride their bikes as soon as they got them.  It only took a couple of minutes before they were making their way around the flat part of the driveway.  That first day, though, they couldn’t quite make it to the top of the driveway.  There’s a slight slope, and it was just enough to stump them.

The next day, the girls mastered the driveway.  They were so proud!  And I was so amazed at how quickly they built up their strength and stamina to cross that hurdle.

The next hurdle was making it off the driveway (there’s a very slight [1/2”?] drop from the drive to the pavement).  They did that on Day 2, and they were able – with constant supervision – to make it around the dead-end circle in front of our house.

The next hurdle was making it to the top of the hill in front of our house, about three houses up.  It took another couple of days – and lots of pushes from Mommy – but they mastered it pretty quickly.

Those obstacles gave the girls a lot to practice, and they spent quite a bit of time zipping up and down the drive.  (Going off the driveway still requires permission – and accompaniment – from Mommy.)

The next hurdle was going down the hill, to the stop sign at the bottom of our road.  I had to make sure the girls had good command of their brakes!  Once I built up my courage (!!!), they had no trouble making that route.  Coming up the hill was another story, though.

It took a few tries, but Baby A finally mastered the hill coming home last week.  For the first time today, B made it [without Mommy’s assistance], too!

Today, June 3, we made our first voyage outside the safety of our dead-end street.  The girls rode (and I ran!) all the way to the pond in the middle of our neighborhood.  It’s a solid ¾ of a mile there, and there are several hills, too.

We took a few water breaks, but I was incredibly impressed with the girls!  They made it the entire way, on their own pedal power!  They followed my instructions, and they took turns leading the way.

I told the girls that I would get a bike when they learned to ride more proficiently.  At this rate, it looks like it won’t be long before I’ll have my own two wheels!