“How many more minutes do we have?” my 6-year-old son breathlessly asked, pedaling down the trail, as fast as his little legs would take him. I looked down at my watch and wiped my brow as the hot德州太阳在我们打下来。这是下午3时53分。“我们有7分钟，哥们！”
“我们能做到吗，妈妈？”叫我9岁的女儿，刚上来摆在我们面前。她尾随我的丈夫，谁是在包装的铅 - 向我们的目的地当家：声波驱。
“YES! Let’s go!” I shouted. That was all they needed to hear to kick it into high gear.
12 miles into what would become a 14.5 mile bike ride, the reward of a cold treat on the way home tempted each of us to push andrace against the clockto make Sonic’s beloved “happy hour”— half price drinks and slushes! — which had quickly become our family’s new quarantine habit.
We made it with two minutes to spare, collapsing onto the grass in a heap while we waited for our order.
When wemoved to Texasfrom Michigan last summer, we didn’t have a ton of time to explore our new neighborhood. Between unpacking, work, the kids’ newsoccer schedules, and their new mid-August school start date, our summer was cut dramatically short. We managed to take a few quick bike rides around our neighborhood, but my son couldn’t go far with his training wheels on.
In December, he finally learned how to ride his bike: #GameChanger. He was raring to go, and the next weekend, he asked if we could bike to breakfast — something that we had done often back在密歇根州, with our son pulled in a bike trailer. But now he was abig kindergartner, ready to ride on his own and, much to our surprise, he did great on our first 4-miler. (Note to all parents: never underestimate the motivating power of blueberry pancakes!)
As his confidence grew, it was clear he was ready and eager to ride more often and for longer distances.
Of course, we had no idea just how soon so many opportunities for family bike rides would come. By mid-March, the world around us went virtual due tothe pandemic因为我们通过我们的国家遵守呆在家里orders. And with no sports, activities, play dates, or birthday parties on the calendar, we had all the time in the world to build a new tradition: long-distance family bike rides.
因此，在过去的十几个周末，我们一直在探索的公园，海滨，小径，我们的新的城市街区 - 测井数十英里，making countless memoriesalong the way.
什么开始作为一种方式来获得房子出来，这些混乱的时期让我们的心脏速率高达已经成为一个真正的家庭传统 - 一个我希望我们能够与我们进行社会距离后停长定义我们的日子。
If you haven’t taken up biking yet, here are a few reasons to consider it now.
1. It’s a healthy activity.
Biking is a great example ofb’riyut,犹太人的传统，values the bodyand good health/wellness. While there are plenty of fun quarantine activities we have done over the past few months (board games, baking, puzzles,getting puppies), we’ve really enjoyed being active as a family — doing something good for our minds and our bodies. Physical activity can help reduce stress, strengthen muscles, improve cardiovascular health, build stamina and more. Plus, biking helps to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our environment, a great example ofhaganat hateva。（不，我不需要任何理由，但葡萄酒额外的玻璃或冰淇淋的舀步道一整天后感觉更一丁点“赚”！）
2. It’s an athletic pursuit we can ALL participate in.
所有active in our ownways: the kids play soccer; my husband plays racquetball and soccer; I run and do Camp Gladiator. But biking is the one thing weall享受，而且我们可以一起做，无论我们的技能组合。你并不需要一个奇特的自行车或昂贵的一个。我们得到了我们的儿子的自行车远离Facebook市场苹果beplay，我和丈夫因为我们前几天的孩子我有我们的，当我们用骑全城一起。
3. The promise of a challenge.
I can’t speak forallkids, but many kids — mine, especially! — are competitive by nature. Give them a challenge, and they areon it.过去的这个周末是第一次我们打超过12英里 - 记录共计14.5。你会认为他们会刚刚获得Olympic medals，他们很骄傲自己的 - 而我们为他们感到骄傲，太。他们设置他们的头脑吧，是的，他们抱怨，是的，有时候他们需要被欢呼，而且有很多的水/点心/用餐时间along the way … but they did it. That sense of pride that comes from achieving a goal is something they can take with them their whole lives.
4.教训毅力。
我们是犹太人。我们不会轻易放弃！虽然长期骑自行车是absolutely nothing相比实际的恐怖和苦难我们的人都不得不面对随着时间的推移，grit and perseveranceare ingrained in our DNA. We will find一种方式继续下去。我的每个孩子都下降，皮肤变得膝盖和肘部到一半的游乐设施，但他们从来没有一次问转身。他们一直想保持每次都去。对我来说，这个说话的，我们是作为一个人谁;we persevere。
5. It’s made us closer.
This one is by far, the most important of all. Not only are we making memories — like the day we arrived at Sonic and the sky opened up in a dramatic, sudden storm; or the time we found a giant tree with a swing and walked around it to determine how old it was (at least 300 years!) — it’s also improved ourfamily dynamics在此否则紧张的时候。我的儿子甚至指出，我们都相处得这么好，当我们对这些冒险;他宣布我们几个游乐设施的“他一生中最美好的一天。”我们迷路了，被遗忘的小吃，是由于线索洪水改道，查处了爆胎 - 但它之中所有的，现实生活中的问题的解决，并没有造成我们中间许多争吵。我们都朝着一个共同的目标而努力：索尼克......呃，我是说，一起完成骑！
所以，你的自行车是否已被收集灰尘在车库或者你害怕你的孩子太年轻了长途骑行，给它一个镜头。他们可能只是会让你大吃一惊。谁知道 - 一个新的家庭传统可以开花。
Image by samposnick/getty images
