Ridin' into Town.

Having had three small successful rides around the local roads, I  decided it was time to venture further afield. My daughter and I decided we are ready for the next big challenge. The Ride into Town. So we aim to get up and out of the house early (well, just after 10am). We prepare a rucksack with essentials for our journey. Purse - check. Phone - check. Keys - check. Diabetes management kit & snacks, check. Headache tablets & plasters, check. Sunglasses & cycle helmets - check. The rucksack's all packed up, and with the build up I am putting into this occasion, you would think we were going off- roading in some particularly hazardous countryside. In reality we are going along a cycle path which we join at the end of our road and leave at the town centre. It's a fairly flat ride with one or two slopes and the subway. But it is our first time out without another adult and it feels like a big adventure. I decide to be brave about the subway slopes and stay on the bike going both down and up, using the pavement for the uneven bits, which they really should fix. We peddle like mad in the subways then make it quite easily up into the middle, down into the second subway and up the otherside. It's easy - in fact a lot more easy than getting off and pushing. I've decided if I don't want my daughter to be a wuss about these things I'm not going to be one either. The rest of the journey is straightforward. The cycle track runs in between the bus lane and the pavement. Whoever planned this has done a really great job as everyone can get safely into town in their own space. It's quite a busy road and there's no way I would attempt it without the cycle lanes. We cross at several lots of traffic lights, arrive safely in town, ride through the park and I grapple locking both bikes and helmets up at the cycle park. Sounds daft, but these things are all new to me. "You won't forget the code, will you Mum?" says my daughter anxiously. The code is easy to remember. I walk away from our bikes feeling like a bona fida cyclist rather than a bag of nerves on wheels as I would have done a few years ago. The ride back goes well too and we have saved £6.00 on bus fare between us. I don't think I'm ever gonna make the Olympics but I'm proud of  my acheivements.