Child at play

I’m in my Homeland for three weeks and that means I’m ready for some playtime! This is my first visit home since my Daddy’s 70th birthday party and my first visit home in nice weather. And that means that my beloved bike, Sarafina, gets to come out to play with me!

Sarafina normally lives in my parents’ garage, suspended from the rafters to save precious floor space for Daddy’s wheeled toys. But with my pending arrival, she was brought down and spruced up. Her chain was oiled, her brakes were checked, and her onboard computer was given a new battery – all so that she would be ready to greet me.

Yesterday was a running day (5.5K in the smoke. Not awesome!) so I didn’t actually get to play with Sarafina until today. It took a while to get saddled up as my helmet seems to have gone missing, but Daddy had a spare that I begrudgingly used instead. (I like my pretty white Trek helmet and I really want to find it!) Once I was saddled up though, I was roaring and ready to go!

There is still quite a bit of smoke in the air from the wildfires burning in other areas of the Pacific Northwest, so I decided to take it a bit easy for my first ride. And so, I enjoyed a gentle ride out to the gravel pit with a detour into the fish hatchery.

Of course, I had to stop for a picture of the “children at play” sign because I am my parents’ child and I am at play. (So yes, you should use caution!)

I hope to get a lot more riding in over the next three weeks. I don’t know that I will manage any trips longer than 10 miles or anything that requires steep hills, but I am confident that I’ll get out and stretch my legs for a bit. If for no other reason than to keep Sarafina company before she has to go back to her home in the rafters.