It's started! Lotte started this school year at secondary school and we have been on the road for a few months now. She is starting to get used to cycling to school, the way she is taught, the new class and all the new teachers. And luckily everything is going well. Still, I think cycling to school is quite a thing. She rides it to school for about 30 minutes. Not a problem at all when the weather is nice, but in autumn and winter I think that is a long time.
It's still dark in the morning when she leaves and it won't be long before it's nearly dark when she gets home. Okay, I admit, that last one might be a bit of an exaggeration, but on dark days it won't be much of a difference. So I don't mind long cycling to school as long as the weather is fine. And a bit of cold you can also dress for that, of course, but if it's raining, that's a completely different story.
However, I have one problem:I sold my car. Drop off and pick up is therefore no longer an option. At least not on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition, on my Audi TT I also did not have a towbar for the bicycle carrier to take her bike there or back. A problem that would have been solved quickly, for example:I saw that you can easily order the right towbar and bike carrier for your car online here. Or we could of course have left her bicycle at school until the next day, for example. It does mean driving twice on and off, of course, but nicer than cycling to school in bad weather.
On Thursday and Friday Frank is at home, so I can take his car with me if necessary. And there is also a tow bar on it, so that her bike can go with it right away. Only then, of course, is there another challenge. Only two bikes can go on while they cycle up and down with three friends, haha. Whichever way you look at it… even when children get older, it worries you.
And of course I know that cycling is healthy. That's the first thing everyone yells, and I totally agree. In fact; the Fietsersbond even claims that cycling is fun, smart, healthy, sustainable and educational. Also true, but my teenager doesn't care about that of course. The Fietsersbond even indicates that by taking the bike once more every week, you improve your endurance by almost a quarter. Can you imagine what happens to your stamina if you have to cycle such a long way to school five times a week! Yet I feel like a motherfucker when she has to cycle such a long way while it's raining and I'm nice and dry inside. I can not help it.
Fortunately, there are also advantages to all that cycling to school that my starting teenager does find interesting. Such as the fact that an hour of cycling there and back a day burns the calories of a cornetto or a magnum. That offers perspective I hear her say when I tell this 😉 . Also convenient by the way, because we promised her cake with every 9 or higher.
In addition, it turns out that - up to three hours after cycling - your brain functions better. And that comes in handy when dragging in all those nines. So the first three hours in the morning at school are the best. And the three hours after she just got home, when she's doing her homework.
And suddenly it dawns on me! Lotte owes it to me that she gets better stamina and achieves good results. Because I don't take them away by car (tow hitch or not) her grades go up and she gets healthier. So motherfucker or not, that cake is actually partly for me, don't you think?
