It had taken us 2 hours to come to Harper’s Ferry. Now we needed enough time to head back. So we decided to head back to our bikes. Crossed the bridge again got our bikes and started paddling. As we paddled I realized I felt more tired. Each push of the paddle was becoming heavier. I think my kids and husband were as well as they were not talking much. Or they could just be enjoying the breeze and the serenity. My daughter suddenly stopped the bike which made my son stop behind her and then me. My husband realizing he couldn’t hear our bikes stopped and looked behind to see us why we had stopped. I got of my bike and asked my daughter what had happened. She was off her bike as well looking at the ground, pointing, “look!”. I moved forward, “What is it?” “It’s a snail! “I couldn’t see, until I saw more closely. It was the color of the gravel and the biggest, small snail I had ever seen. It was moving as slowly, as snails do. My son rolled his eyes. Nothing impresses a teen when they’re tired. I wouldn’t blame him, the hot sun was gone, but there was still evening light and the shadowed bike path was becoming much darker. We realized we should’ve had some lights on our bikes. My husband then realized he had installed two on my son’s and he already had one on his. He took off the rear bike from my son’s bike and installed on mine’s. I was the one who was now biking slowly and was much behind. We started paddling again, till I realized my paddle was not taking the bike forward. I looked at the mechanical chain section of the bike and realized my chain was off, probably due to sudden break. My husband and kids we already gone. I decided to fix the chain myself. So got off and started to work on it. I was too tired. I took off my phone and started to call my husband, realizing his phone didn’t had enough battery and I had advised him to turn it off. So, I decided to walk. I walked for 10 minutes till I saw my husband coming back. Upon his arrival I told him what’s happening. He immediately got to work and, in a minute, fixed the chain. Relief, I decided to adjust my seat higher. I felt like I was going slow and peddling more than I must. It wasn’t even mountainous! It was a plan, flat trail. “UGH! Feeling more out of shape than ever wondering how much my weight is I started paddling.  My husband still was ahead of me, “You don’t even go to the gym with me!” I yelled after him, feeling offended, while a man, clearly in his 60’s ran alongside us. I could hear my husband’s grin as he slowed down and I joined. We saw our kids then, with concerned look on their faces as one of them asked if I was okay.

When we started paddling again, I felt like I was a puddle of sweat. I cursed myself for missing all those cardio classes and only taking yoga, telling myself it’s a good workout. I realized more than ever that it uses be the combo of both that had always worked for me. Also, realizing that doing all those missed cardio doing in one day could be well—life threatening! “Its too late for it!” told me. I stopped and took out my cell phone, wondering how far is the campground? It was getting dark. We could see the fireflies alongside our trail and if we stop, the mosquitoes would start having buffet on us. It showed 8 more minutes. That was enough for motivation. We reached our campground territory in 8 more minutes and then the kids rushed to the final mile towards our car, while me and my husband we not so far behind. Upon reaching we were welcomed by the smell of bar-b-q as the campers had started their dinner. We hung around there for having water and loading our bikes on the SUV. We were tired, sweaty but had a blast. Looking forward to more adventures ahead. Of-course, will prep with cardio next time —NOT!