the dry run... we were unable to attempt the "dry run"


the weekend was moderately lazy
my inlaws were in town and their were two kids' soccer games
other than that there was no real structure
no real structure and no real bikes

nope... no bikes... well... not entirely no bikes
no bicycle rides and no bicycle racing
and well... no adult bicycle rides or at least no adult bicycle work outs
there were no adult bikes other than with family activity involving the bicycle

Friday we worked out the basic routine of morning drop off with the bikes
then come Friday afternoon Lisa and I rode over to school to ride home with the boys
the boys really love the opportunity to ride with mom
dad is... well... dad...
and mom is... well... mom is mom
the boys love their momma

it was a moderately uneventful ride home
we took the most direct route home
there was an "I gotta poop" emergency from one of the boys
so we took the straight route home and got home in time to catch the in-laws arrival for their weekend drive through the district

when we got home from school... the need to poop was no longer urgent
in fact... no one had to poop at all
false alarm or missed window of opportunity?

we went out to dinner
on that cross town drive we dropped Grant's old bike off at one of his friend's house

then came Saturday...
after an 8:30 am soccer game for my younger son Grant I went to watch my older son Dean's game
Dean rode his bike in a bicycle convoy with one of the coaches and a good number of the kids on the team
pretty cool
I left a few minutes later also on bike... outside the door I ran into another kid on the team who was traveling with his young brother and his dad on foot
we rode in tandem together from Mount Pleasant to the AstroTurf field in Columbia Heights
allowing the walking dad and the younger brother to move at a different pace

then after the game there was a major convoy home together
again... very cool
the kids ride to soccer practice on their bikes... very cool
the kids ride to soccer games on their bikes when the location is feasible
and well... many of the kids on the team ride their bikes to their school
again... very very cool

that evening Lisa had a birthday party for a friend from work while I hung with the boys
not sure what to do we met up with my brother and his family for pizza
sort of an informal birthday gathering for my now ten year old nephew
when we arrived... the boys said that they should have ridden their bikes to their cousins
next time we will try to ride our bikes across town

after getting pizza and then ice cream in Glover Park my nephew opened up his gift
we took his newly acquired Stomp Rockets to the park
while the two older cousins played with the stomp rockets
the two younger cousins rode bicycles that were at the day care center by the park

Sunday morning came... no scheduling of bicycle rides in advance usually feeds into a no bicycle ride day
we all woke slowly
there was no rush to get out of the house
nothing that I offered the boys did anything to lure them away from whatever they were doing

my sales pitch of "the dry run" to the boys school and then soccer on the school field was not so enticing
soccer got a little approval
bikes got some approval
but the bike ride to the school for soccer was not the winning combination
it is known that it is a long set of hills pedaling out of the valley that is Rock Creek Park then over to their school

it was after noon when we finally got out of the house
partially because we had to wait for a few kids from down the block to get home so they could join us on our bike ride with soccer as an agenda afternoon

the boys were all flexible about the bike ride so I took a classic route around through Mount Pleasant on into Columbia Heights then down 16th Street headed north towards Carter Baron
at Carter Baron we took a break for water and cookies
properly fueled with water and cookies the boys enjoyed the coast down the hill into the park
once in the park the boys enjoyed more coasting from the Park Police Station on towards Pierce Mill
at Pierce Mill we joined an assortment of people involved in an assortment of activities

before soccer we drank more water and ate more snacks
then rocket balloons and frisbee before the main event
THREE ON THREE SOCCER

a combination of tall grass and excessive giggles kept the game from getting too competitive
the rocket balloons... tree climbing... frisbee playing all added up to take up pretty much all the afternoon I wanted to spend in the park
so... we pedaled the final distance home

before going home I extended the trip for some Tom Sawyer Huck Finn style adventures... done in the classic 2010 Hover Parent Style
this parentally guided mischief nearly gave me the "dry run" attempt that I was looking for
after an afternoon of riding and running around at a moment where Grant had no desire to go that direction he was unable to ride up the hill... the hill that was only half the hill to his school
he is a strong little climber
but he had no desire to ride that route
which did not give me the "dry run" I was looking for
although I tried to push the logic "if you do not ride to school... you can not ride home from school" but that logic did not sway this stubborn little man
the dry run for a different time
until then
drive them with the bikes when I can

here it is Sunday night...
I am trying to plot the course of the actions for tomorrow
Lisa and I are trying to sort out how we can get the boys and their bikes to school so that I can ride home with them at pick up