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| From Green Bike |
I love that you enjoy riding bikes. I really love that you have taken so strongly to 'offroading' with me on The Green Bike. Right now I'm sore, we've had a big 3 days on that bike...
It started on Friday, when Aunt Katie (not really your aunt, but kind of like Uncle Bart) and mom took you to the park. After work I rode the bike over there, and you came home with me. We (ahem) raced them, as they were on foot. When we got there, you were so enthused to have won the race, you stood at the entrance of the garage and danced and taunted them until they arrived. No, seriously...
Anyway, as background, I have been struggling with regards to the bike(s). There is decent riding around here, but no elevation to speak of and rides close by are a challenge. I could put the bike in the car and drive to one of many places, but riding from home is kind of a different story. At least it was, until I had a bike with offroad capability and a willing partner!! As it happens, there are quite a few dirt and gravel trails running beside the Des Plaines River. It took a while to find them, but mostly because the fun trails are on the flood plain - they were literally under water until a few weeks ago! Seriously, want to see something crazy? Check out the relative height of the concrete wall (with all the graffiti) you are pointing at:
If you'll notice the water line of the concrete wall on this one, would you be guess that this is the same wall, completely under water??
You can see the trail head into the water - that was 'as far as we could go' at that point! 
And check out, behind your radiant smile, the shocking presence of, well, not really a hill, per se, but definitely elevation changes! When we built the bike, it was mostly for riding around town. But these trails are clearly the reason for building the bike - we are truly well-equipped to get out to what you have taken to calling Nature. As in "Dad, are we in Nature now? This looks like Nature!"
It is not just dirt and hills though. There are a bunch of paved trails, one even leading behind a Natural History Museum we've driven by about a hundred times, but certainly never gone to. A week or so you and I rode through, and they have animals! A fox, coyote, owl, falcon, hawk, and perhaps a turkey vulture or two, so you've taken to riding through to say hi to them. On Saturday we convinced mom to drive there and meet us for a picnic. It was awesome!
All kinds of crazy flowers, reminding me much of California and riding bikes down by Stanford.
So being there and all, we adventured inside the building and it was cool too! They have an aquarium there full of Illinois river fish, including a few bass and something you'd never seen before - a catfish!! You really liked him, and talked to him for a long time.
We took off, you walking out with mom and me getting this great picture of you guys and all the flowers. Big win for the nature museum with a bike path, especially since we get to the bike path by riding a mile of dirt trails!
So, let's check out what is quickly becoming our riding habit... First off, do you think you enjoy this at all?
When we get into the trail, you have a subtle way of telling me which way you think we should go.
Sometimes, though, you aren't sure.
But usually you are confident in your choices.
Once we get through the first set of trails, we're onto the more 'official' trails with underpasses to keep us from having to cross roads! When they aren't under water, that is...
When we get to the real flood plain, you like to take a break. What would one do beside a river plain filled with dead wood from when it was flooded? One of Maya's favorite things...
Oh yes, you are really good at picking up and throwing sticks!
We also check out what other wildlife has been using the trail and river as well.
And where there is flooded river plain, you'll also find plenty of mostly-felled trees to 'climb' which is I think your favorite diversion on these rides.
I totally dig the plain. It is a nice safe flat area beside the river, and at least for now there are no worries about poison oak and ivy, snakes, and other nasties. Pretty much a mosquito heaven, though, so we can't leave the house without our bug spray!
On Saturday, taking pictures, you asked if you could see the camera and take some pictures while we rode. To my surprise, you did and you took some great ones! Here are some of the pictures you took of our ride on Saturday...
Nice work on the camera! So after throwing sticks in the river and climbing trees (preferably to throw sticks in the river from the tree), perhaps a trip through the museum to say hi to the fox and coyote and the birds, exploring some great trails - with hills and roots and rocks - well let's just say it is good exercise all the way around.
Anyway, this is the longest post ever and I haven't even gotten to the wildlife yet. Oh yes the wildlife. Today we went for a ride before dinner, and didn't get back until almost bedtime! And did we see any deer?? Most certainly, probably almost 20 of them! Several of them very close to us, a few babies (little brother and little sister), some young ones (big sister and big brother), and even some bigger ones (mom and dad, even though they both had horns). You loved that, but not as much as the raccoon washing things in the river. You're still talking about him. So who would have thought that by moving from California to Chicago, we'd be getting back to nature??
Believe it or not, even more pictures in the album and I'll keep adding to that. Everyone in the house is loving the bike rides - you keep asking for them, they are so great for me, and mom gets some quiet time! Great stuff, I have to thank you thank you thank you for being such a fun biking companion. I can't wait until you can pedal your own though!
Just to capture a few funny notes on you during our rides... It has been well documented that when on a bike ride you tend to talk incessantly, and that you are very observant and often point things out that I hadn't even noticed. But out on the trail, there are some unique Maya-isms we should remember...
- you say 'ow' just about every single bump we hit on the dirt, regardless of size of impact or object. Pebble - ow. Walk bike over 2 foot log - ow. Never do this on the street, even though the bumps are often much larger!
- at every intersection (at least every one I've checked you on) you point at the direction you want to go. You don't vocalize these nor do you protest if I go the other way, but I catch a lot of pointing fingers in my peripheral vision!
- I secretly wonder if the only reason you tolerate any of this business is that I let you throw sticks into the river.
- It has now locked into your little mind that we pass Brown Cow ice cream on the way home, and it is becoming a point to plan for this on a return trip soon.
- For some reason, on these rides you listen to me intently and obey every word. I've had to take you off the seat to lift the bike over logs and trees, you pay rapt attention. I tell you it is time to leave while you are out on a tree throwing sticks, you turn around and climb down without issue.
Much more of this to come, I hope. I'm so excited you like riding with me like this, time to start putting on some miles (and throwing some sticks)!
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