Riding Bikes - 17 March (Tue)

Absolutely no pictures from this one unfortunately, but this experience will be very special for us in many ways.

Dominik was late getting home from school today because everyone in his grade had to take a special bike safety test today. They had been preparing for it for awhile. It sounded very comprehensive and good.

Coincidentally, we had plans to go to a restaurant about 5 km (or more) away and we were going to try to all ride bikes. Actually, Marget and Paula would drive cars. One of the cars had a trailer so we could bring the bikes back for anyone who didn't feel like riding back or in case it was too dark to ride back. There were plenty of bikes for everyone, though there was some hesitation and competition between Finn and Keane to get a COOL looking bike. Finally they settled on something.

Keane is a pretty good rider....for his age. I knew he had never ridden that distance before, but it was a mostly flat route, paved, no cars and there was no hurry to get there. Still, I don't think that Marget and Burkhard had expected it to take Keane (and me and Burkhard who stayed with Keane) so long to get there. Keane also gets distracted when he rides, and wobbles a little bit, which made me nervous as we rode along. I kept reminding him to watch where he was going and I was really afraid that we would have a wipeout somewhere along the way.

It turned out much worse than I expected. Keane was riding about 50 yards ahead of Burkhard and I. There was a crossing arm blocking the road ahead. Penny and Finn rode their bikes around the blockade to the left. Keane continued on and we didn't realize until too late that he wasn't slowing down or he couldn't stop in time. He slamed into the crossing arm pretty hard. The bike went under it, but he hit with his chin and flipped completely around. I think it's a picture Burkhard and I will not forget for a long time.

He and I were certain that the injuries would be pretty bad. Keane was hysterical. Penny and Finn had been far enough ahead that they didn't see it, but they heard the crash clearly. Luckily there were only a few scrapes on his chin. He recovered pretty well. There were dents on the metal crossing arm, but he was ok. We walked a short distance and finally got back on our bikes and finished the ride.

It was a beautiful ride through the countryside to a crossroads town called Illach. The restaurant is at least 100 years old, but the building that it is in is much, much older. The only customers were local people and they seemed to be regulars. We ate a simple meal - Brotzeit, had a beer and then drove back to the house.

Burkhard and Hans rode back together on bikes. The picture of father and son riding bikes together on the beautiful country lane would have been perfect. We passed them in the car on the way back. I rode back with Paula. We had to take another road than the one we had used on the bikes for most of the way. It was quite a bit longer this way. Still, Paula gave a mini-tour of some places in Burggen - the reservoir, the path of the overflow canal that runs through the town and several notable houses and buildings. It is a very beautiful town.

Later I was able to use Skype to call my mother and father. It was really cool to call them for free, with video. It sure beats the slow postal correspondence that I used 19 years ago!