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For years, Dan's been trying to get me to join him for the weekend he does the big charity bike ride for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. He and his college friends spend the year training up, or intending to anyway, to ride 150 miles in two days.
Of course I won't be riding with the guys. Pedaling 150 miles in two days is beyond my fitness level this year, and possibly for the rest of this incarnation. Which is fine.
What I will be doing is schlepping up to Boston Friday, then probably bringing Gareth to children's museums and science centers and such on Saturday and Sunday, and then joining Dan and his friends for a celebratory dinner on Sunday. There's a remote possibility I might spend Sunday in Provincetown, where the finish line is for Dan's ride, if some known fellow grown-up were to join me for the whole day to help keep an eye on Gareth.
It's possible, even easy, for one adult to keep a two-year-old amused, safe, and enjoyable in an environment that's designed and maintained specifically for children. Keeping that same two-year-old amused, safe, and enjoyable in an open field or paved lot on a hot day while hundreds of exhausted, distracted cyclists pedal past the finish line and then meander heedlessly around at fifteen miles an hour to cool down requires the attention of at least two vigilant adults. I can't tell you how many times![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jeneralist and I narrowly prevented serious injury to the kiddo, to say nothing of narrowly avoiding heatstroke, at the finish line of the Livestrong Challenge last summer. I hear there's a lot of fun stuff to do in Provincetown, but I can only consider it if I've got someone I already know in person committed to spend the day with us there and brave at least half an hour finish line chaos.
Of course I won't be riding with the guys. Pedaling 150 miles in two days is beyond my fitness level this year, and possibly for the rest of this incarnation. Which is fine.
What I will be doing is schlepping up to Boston Friday, then probably bringing Gareth to children's museums and science centers and such on Saturday and Sunday, and then joining Dan and his friends for a celebratory dinner on Sunday. There's a remote possibility I might spend Sunday in Provincetown, where the finish line is for Dan's ride, if some known fellow grown-up were to join me for the whole day to help keep an eye on Gareth.
It's possible, even easy, for one adult to keep a two-year-old amused, safe, and enjoyable in an environment that's designed and maintained specifically for children. Keeping that same two-year-old amused, safe, and enjoyable in an open field or paved lot on a hot day while hundreds of exhausted, distracted cyclists pedal past the finish line and then meander heedlessly around at fifteen miles an hour to cool down requires the attention of at least two vigilant adults. I can't tell you how many times
jeneralist and I narrowly prevented serious injury to the kiddo, to say nothing of narrowly avoiding heatstroke, at the finish line of the Livestrong Challenge last summer. I hear there's a lot of fun stuff to do in Provincetown, but I can only consider it if I've got someone I already know in person committed to spend the day with us there and brave at least half an hour finish line chaos.
