On a bicycle now built for two....

Saturday morning, Amanda's tandem bike attachment arrived!!!  She was very excited and ran out to see the Fedex man.

That afternoon, Daddy put the bike together.

Watching Daddy read the instructions

And they were off for a brief test ride.  She was very nervous.

She did not pedal at all.  Just hung on for dear life!  But they went around the block.

Not so keen on the hill and turn.

But it was a successful test. 

And Sunday, late morning, we arrived at Rocky Point Walking Path.



Getting set to go.....

 And then they were off.  She yelled at him all the way down to stop.  He would stop and allow her to settle and then start off again....This repeated a few times until he just kept going.

She hung on tightly, very nervous until they went around one corner and I heard "WHEEEEEEEEE" from an excited little girl.

Tessa and I followed until we caught up with them.  Rode until the end and turned around.

Her bike gathered lots of attention from walkers and fellow bike riders.

Stopping to show off the bike

Starting back again

On the ride back, I rode behind them and coaxed Amanda to start pedaling.  She needed to be reminded to switch legs.  First she was just moving her legs forward and back.  So I rode behind yelling "LEFT! RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT!!" until she remembered what to do.  Then I just told her what a great job she was doing.

Craig offered to stop and let her play at the beach and she did not want to stop.  So we raced up the hill to the start.

All in all, it was a great first bike ride as a family.  She knew she was safe.  Hills are still not her favorite.  We have to get another hitch attachment for my bike and remove the basket holder so it can fit.  But for now, she is comfortable behind Daddy.  Amanda will be able to learn to deal with the sensory input of riding a bike and learn to control her balance.

So, for your littles, who for whatever reason, cannot ride unassisted, this is a great alternative.  You know they will be safe and able to keep up with the family.