Perfect night for a bike ride

After supper I had time for a quick bike ride before dark and cranked out 14.5 miles. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I enjoyed the time to just spend some time thinking over the events of the day. I was especially tickled thinking about a story Charlie shared with me.

Charlie was at the school with a bus to pick up the 5th grade class for a field trip. Arriving a bit early he spent a few minutes chatting with the first grade teacher on recess duty. She told Charlie "hey, our class had a discussion about your wife today." Interesting...why would the first grade class be talking about me? The discussion was about being green, conserving resources, etc. The teacher mentioned that biking plays a big role in saving the environment. At that point one of the first graders exclaimed "Cathy L. rides her bike a lot!" Now I expected that this comment came from one of our great nieces and nephews (we have 58 of them - there must be one in this class?) but it came from a little boy who I don't even know but evidently he knows me!

I must admit, I ride my bike primarily for enjoyment! But I do get in about 250 commuting miles a year so I guess it all helps. I think sometimes we are setting examples even when we're not aware that we are. This reminds me of when I stopped in Volin for pie one day while on a bike ride and a little girl ran up to me and said "you're a good lady because you are wearing a helmet!"

The other moral of this story is that if you live in a small town and are the only person who owns a road bike (and maybe a few other bikes, but who's counting), you stick out!