Will Learn To Bike With Maia

I was so frail when I was a kid and always begged myself off anything that required me to be physically active. I had weak lungs and suffered asthma for most of my childhood that my parents almost always never hesitated to send excuse letters to my teachers each time I asked to be excused during PE activities in school. When my dad was teaching my siblings how to ride a bike I just watched them from the sidelines. As a kid, I thought I was lucky I had the perfect excuse to escape my dad's unconventional teaching method. My dad had this way of teaching you to be brave but he (that was how I interpreted it then as a kid) taught you that by directly putting you in harm's way. Well he's paying his dues now (by deciding to raise strong-willed/opinionated kids), but that's another story for me to tell.

When I got older however, I realized I missed a lot by choosing to be handicapped by my frailness.  Had I been more physically active as a child, I would probably have grown to love sports and might not be as shy as I was in high school. I was lucky I found supportive friends who cheered on me in college so I was able to get out of my shell but still had I been athletic I wouldn't have had so much difficulty 'blending' in and finding my 'crowd' because sports always had a captured audience and they're pretty easy to find because you know where they usually hang out.

I eventually learned that I could gain more if I get physically active. So I welcomed some 'sports' into my life. I learned to play badminton (which in  a way paved the way to my becoming a wife) and started running regularly. Although I couldn't claim I'm now athletic, I have acknowledged that by being physically active I could add extra years to lifetime and I've somehow established a regular exercise regimen. But no, I never pooled the the guts to try and learn how to bike.

When I got married, my husband would taunt me how unfortunate I was that I never learned to ride a bike. So when Maia showed interest to learn it, he didn't hesitate a bit. He immediately jumped into the idea of teaching his kid how to bike. Poor Mommy, she couldn't join us when we bike together no Maia? he'd say. I know he's just teasing and is secretly wishing could bike together as a family.

I really wanted to learn how actually. Only that I still cannot get the courage to ride it. And the fact that I've always had issues with finding my balance, it scares me even more to learn it now that I'm in my 30's already. I also hate the thought of the injury that goes with it. Scrapes and scratches and bruises from falling off a bike at my 30s? I'd really rather make a pass on that. So imagine my happiness when I stumbled upon this video in You Tube. There's hope for people like me after all! Hehe.

We shall be testing this trick really soon. I hope it works!

Maia Testing Her Biking Skills For The First Time, Jan 2011

One day soon Maia...we will ride together!