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Too much of a good thing

By James Durand
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By James Durand

Well, we finished the Swicked 30 for 30 event and it went great … ish.

Chenoa came up with this event to motivate the community to ride into spring. Ride 30 minutes for 30 days in March.

It’s a great idea. Sometimes the hardest part of riding is motivating yourself to get out the door. After those first few pedal strokes, it’s easy.

In my wisdom, which I often question, I decided it would be cool to get my kids to do it too.

Regan had no idea what this entailed other than riding his bike, so he jumped at it blindly.

Rhyley on the other hand, was a bit harder to convince. She knows full well that riding everyday is tough. She was considering it, but leaning towards no, until I bribed her with cash.

So, there it is, the four of us were committed to the 30 for 30.

At first it was easy. I rode with the kids while Chenoa did her ride and I’d ride by myself the next day while Chenoa took the kids. Everyone got what they wanted and we were feeling great.

Then life got busy and as I ran short on time, I rode with the kids to make sure they succeeded, and sadly I missed most of my solo rides.

We finished last week and I’m proud to say Rhyley completed every day. Regan was away for a day, but still did 29 of the 30. In his defence, during the first week of March he did two or three rides each day, so we’ll chalk that one up as a win for the little dude.

I also completed my 30 days, but 20 of them were 30-minute rides at four km/hr riding with the brats.

I love riding with my kids and watching them advance, but after the snack breaks, the mandatory playground stop, and the exploration of the beetle, caterpillar, tree, ditch, or whatever distracts them, it takes 90 minutes to do a 30-minute ride.

I’ve never ridden so many days in a row before, yet felt so desperate to go riding.

I hope all of you that participated had as much fun as we did, and hopefully you’re still as hungry as I am to continue riding.

I’m James Durand, and I’m Goin’ Ridin’ … faster and further than last month.