When Ted and I were dating, I had no idea what he meant by training and racing mountain bikes. All I knew of biking was my old Walmart huffy bike I proudly bought with my allowance money when I was younger and family bike rides on the trails down by the river. The first time he decided we should go on a bike ride together, he was literally riding circles around me and I felt bad for slowing him down when he clearly had a "need for speed".
His next scheme to include me on his daily bike rides was for me to strap on some roller blades and skate behind him on one of the local paved trails. He quickly realized I was far from an athlete and his eyes grew wide when I explained why...
I was the kid in elementary school who was excused from running the mile and would often walk out in the middle of gym class to take my inhaler before I had a full on asthma attack. In middle school, my mom began to notice that even going on long walks as a family was hard for me, but it wasn't until I was nearly in high school before doctors figured out I also had a congenital heart defect called coarctation of the aorta. Our family trip to Disney just months before my heart surgery included a wheelchair for me, because I literally was too weak and tired to walk through the parks.
The heart surgery made such a tremendous difference that even my asthma seemed to improve - causing us to wonder how many symptoms we had simply brushed off as asthma related. Still, as a high school student who had never been very active and was also overweight, gym class was terrifying. I managed to get a passing grade, but I never excelled or pushed myself.
When Ted brought up the idea of a tandem bike, I thought he was joking. But the next thing I knew, we were riding on this bicycle built for two and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. We spent many date nights going for a tandem bike ride.
During our first year of marriage, when were struggling to adjust our expectations with reality, the tandem bike was nearly a lifesaver. At least one night a week, we would ride the tandem bike out on the trails, so I was able to spend time with him and he was still able to continue his training for race season. We even brought it along on our honeymoon...although one of the two times we rode it during that week was a near disaster; I'll save that story for another day!
The photo above was taken on one of our visits to Michigan while we were dating. We could just barely fit the tandem bike inside his Subaru. He managed to bribe me with ice cream to go on a 30+ mile bike ride that weekend. By the time we returned to his parents' home, his mom and sisters were at the door waiting to make sure I was okay. We still laugh at the memory of them scolding him for making me ride so far, but their genuine concern made me realize how much they already cared about me.
Linking up with Jessica of The Mom Creative for her weekly series on Throwback Thursday Stories.
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