Almost ten years ago, someone sent me a really sweet e-mail about having a child. The e-mail was written from a mother's perspective about her feelings for her child at every age. One of the lines stood out as I read it then, and has presented itself to me time and time again. It said something like, "Mothers must be prepared to wear every emotion on their sleeve; to have every wound drenched in salt & alcohol, to have every elation magnified by 20. That's because mothers experience every emotion of their child in addition to their own." It's a feeling like no other.
That line has crossed my mind in times of heartache & in times of happiness. When my son was 5, he slipped on a tandem bike, cutting his knee open on the oily chainring. While holding him down in the ER, as he got seven staples in his knee, I cried harder than he cried. As horrific as his pain was, I know mine was worse-not being able to take his away. As crazy as it sounds, I felt that pain. I throbbed & ached. I swear I could feel every agonizing second. It haunted me for weeks as he showed off his cool new scar in the shape of an "S" for "SuperPreston".
If I only felt those negative emotions, motherhood would really suck. But, thank God, I get to feel really great emotions as well. Today was one of those days.
As Vic loaded up our bikes to head to a nearby community college parking lot, Preston was readying himself for his maiden voyage on a real roadbike. Preston has spent quite some time on the trainer during our exceptionally cold winter & has been dying to get on the road. Preston was in his cold weather gear & ready to conquer the world. After some advice from dad & a couple of failed attempts to get going & hop onto the seat, he hung his head & tears the size of Texas began falling. "I can't do it," he said. My heart began to break for him as he thought he'd automatically know how to do it. His dad was amazing as he gently coaxed him into trying again, wiping tears away, and never letting his boy go. I fought back my tears too, as I knew he wanted to do it perfectly. He did try again, and with success! He wobbled a little as his foot struggled to turn the pedal over to find the clip...as it did, his speed increased and the boy sat more into position. He leaned with the bike, not against it; no fight to balance, no problems with finding the best placement for his hands. He looked so beautiful out there. He yelled, "I DID IT!!" as he continued to ride away from us. This was the beginning of what would become just under 4 miles of riding for him today. I took some pictures with my phone but they were a little shaky. The emotion in me was overwhelming. I felt his feelings again. It wasn't the feeling of accomplishment or success like I thought it would be. It was feelings of freedom, of the joy of future rides with friends & family, and of pure sunshine. Today was my Mother's Day.

Football or Cycling?

Many of you know that my son got a road bike for Christmas. It is sweet!

Since getting the bike, Preston has only been able to ride it on the trainer due to weather, which is fine, because he has learned quite a bit about shifting, positioning, and has built up his legs some. It won't be long until he's ready for the road. That's where the blog really begins.

In the past three months, I've really opened my eyes to the dangers of the sport because of Preston's desire to get out on the road. I've read Neil Browne's interview with Lucas Euser, who was hit on the road last year. I knew all about his crash and rehabilitation. What I didn't know, was that Lucas's girlfriend was also hit later in the year.

Maureen McCormick, (AKA Marsha Brady) was interviewed recently by Bicycling Magazine, and revealed that her greatest fear is being hit by a vehicle while cycling. Her husband had been hit and it took him almost a year to recover.

Trials involving motorists and cyclists are being retweeted almost daily, and even the pros have nasty run-ins rather frequently as they spend so much time on the road doing their job.

An up-and-coming cyclist named Nate Weston (@Nate_Weston on Twitter) was hit by a car last December in Atlanta on a training ride. With help from an excellent chiropractor and sheer will, Nate is ok and ready to take on Europe with a development squad in Belgium.

Don't even get me started on crashes. I wasn't the only one holding my breath when our favorite man-boy, Taylor Phinney, crashed last year in the Cascade Classic. And Saul Raisin's book, Tour de Life, is as frightening as it is heartwarming, especially for the parents of a wanna-be cyclist.

So what do we do? Teach, model, and preach safety? That's a given. Provide a safe place to ride? That too. Provide them with top-notch equipment? Got it. Supervise continuously? Yeah, yeah.

I don't want him to live in a bubble, but am I crazy to push this sport? It's not like I have a choice in the matter. It's in his blood.

So, do football and rugby moms go through this?