A Purpleicious Ride

With an older brother to keep up with, Clara is fast and fearless, and bike-riding is no exception. She's been pedaling around on her tricycle for the past year and a half, wreaking havoc on dogs and babies, but decided last week that she was ready for a new, bigger ride -- with only two wheels.

Who knew how hard it could be to find a girls' bike that wasn't bejeweled, covered in glitter, or adorned with baskets, purses, or sidecars for dolls? Compared to the sturdy boys' bikes on display at Toys "R" Us, the bikes for the sugar-and-spice set looked like they might collapse after one use. After Clara oohed and ahhhed over all the pastel models, with themes ranging from Barbie, to Disney princesses, to Pinkalicious, we settled on the only one in the bunch that seemed like it would stand up to abuse from our little hellion on wheels (and that also would fall in line with the girlie-girl quenching guidelines in Cinderella Ate My Daughter). It's magenta, has been dubbed Purpleicious, and has already been taken for a couple of test rides!

Clara talked a big game before we took Purpleicious for its first spin at the Moraga Commons, claiming that she didn't think she needed training wheels. The cockiness faded when she first clambered on the bike, and saw that the park asphalt looked much rockier than the linoleum inside Toys "R" Us. She's just lucky that her big brother, a seasoned pro, was on hand to coax her into taking her first wobbly lap around the playground.

She's off and running now! Do I really have two bikes and bikers to keep up with now?? Maybe Molly and I need to put that jogging stroller to work!