Family Bike Ride

The Cochrane Family woke up and was on the road by 7AM on Saturday morning. We had breakfast from the Duncan Donuts drive through—a rarity for us. Then our family headed to Cambridge on the Eastern Shore where we did a 12 mile family bike ride. It only cost 40 dollars to sign the whole family up which was incredible because the package came with shirts and was a well run event. Doing this bike ride was something that Scott planned. The family ride was a part of the 6 Pillars Century. The Six Pillars of Character are: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. Our plan was to break the ride up into small pieces and make a few stops so Alex (our 8 year old) would not have any trouble completing the entire ride. On one of our water stops we were informed that the family ride was in honor of a 4th grader, Ryan, who passed away from a degenerative disease. His favorite color was green so the kid’s shirts for the ride were also green. Alex and Zefram signed the young boy’s poster and then helped themselves to popsicles and all sorts of juice boxes. Over all, the entire family had a good time on the bike ride. It was such a blissful experience to ride next to the water. We even got to see DuPont Estates which is part of the University of Maryland Environmental Research Center. It was incredible to see the house and all the old trees that must have been around for 100’s of years. The kids even stopped and saw lots of Oyster shells at one of the research centers. There were many memorable events along our ride but what I will remember most is the our kids. Miraculously, Alex rode the entire way on his own in 7th gear, which blew us away. He is so strong and fast and has an unending amount of energy; that must be why Alex does not have an ounce of fat anywhere on his body. As for Zefram, he rode on the back of Scott’s bike on an attachment that allows him to pedal or to coast as desired. The bike attachment is a really cool contraption that looks like a bicycle built for two and adds an extra 50lbs. Honestly, I don’t know how Scott was able to ride with Zefram on the back of his bike and maintain his balance. Zefram is constantly throwing himself from side to side whenever he gets distracted which is constantly. He reminds us of the dog in the Movie Up that constantly is distracted when he sees a squirrel or hears someone say the word “squirrel”. Interesting enough, Zefram’s number for the ride was 666 which just amused us to no end. We love him so much and are ecstatic that he had a good time. As for Athena, she rode in a carrier attached to the back of my bike like a princess in a palatine. Many people commented on her life of leisure yet she was not amused and fussed for part of the ride because the button on the carrier came loose and was blowing in her face. Overall the event was delightful and we are looking forward to doing more bike rides as a family this year. The way we see it, doing events (like this) as a family is crucial to building closeness. Plus, bike riding may help us establish good healthy exercise routines that will affect our family for a life time. Another thing worth noting is that bike riding as a family is a great homage to Scott’s Grandparents who were avid bike riders.