This weekend was our second annual Kidical Overnight and unfortunately, we had a number of sickies who couldn't make it at the last minute, including Little Brother who had to stay with his dad. Big Brother and I had to go on our own and I have to admit that it was easier to pack with just one kid and not have to leave space for a kid on deck or his bike.
Big Brother was ready to ride the entire route one his own, about 15 miles each way! And to add to the fun, I had him carry some of the gear. He was very proud of letting everyone know that he had both sleeping bags, all our clothes, and the pillows.
We started off with some coffee wth Nama and Big Brother fell off the bike on his first dismount. He wasn't used to having stuff on the rack and clipped it on the way off.
We met up with our other Kidical friends at the park and rode up the Sacramento Northern bike trail.
We had to deal with one detour where they're fixing the levee and have left bikers to deal with an unsafe trail closure detour that routes riders onto fast and unpredictable Del Paso blvd. This added a few extra miles but was worth it. We had two kiddos on their own bikes, and one who split the ride between being on his Islabike and being attached to the Follow-Me attachment. Since most of our ride was on trails, even the youngest rider got to get some pedaling in for himself.
It was slow going, as usual, and we had lots of rest stops for snacks and a long lunch at a big playground. There's even a BMX pump track that Big Brother and a few others decided to give a try. Last time I tried this was with the Bullitt and we bottomed out. I didn't try it with the HaD this time. It was too hot!
Nineteen miles and about four hours later, we made it to Gibson Ranch. Another party had taken our picnic area but we were able to run them off after they finished their meal. We settled into our shady site with plenty of food to munch on and space for the kids to run around.
After 7pm when the park closed and all the picnickers headed home, we had the whole place to ourselves, except for some faint tunes from the wedding party across the way.
This morning, we packed up and made it out earlier than we had left yesterday. It was already warm by 8am. We moved along a bit quicker than yesterday. The kiddos were great riders, even along the rural roads where we had faster moving traffic and parked cars on either side of us.
Big Brother and I got back in about three hours but had a leisurely lunch with Nama. We were both tired from the long weekend. I can't believe how much BB rode, especially considering that he didn't stop moving and playing the entire time. He rode over 32 miles all on his own this weekend, with a loaded up bike. I'm sad that Little Brother couldn't make it, he would have loved it. We'll have to do a make up ride for him soon. It was great having some extra time just with Big Brother, though. And now we have some quiet time before LB comes home. In the meantime, BB is eating everything he can find at home. I guess that's the drawback to making him carry his own weight and do more work.
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