Bike Riding in Puddles (A Mini-Adventure)
Rainy Day Mini-Adventure: Ride through Puddles!
If you’ve had some good amounts of rain recently, if it’s forecast, or if it’s raining right now, it’s the PERFECT time to do this activity with your kids!
Simply hop on your bikes (yes, you included!) and go on a rainy adventure day bike ride with your kids! Seek out puddles and speed through them (yes, you too!).
Embrace the silliness (aka fun) of it all and encourage them to do the same. Adventures don’t have to be serious, epic and meaningful, we are allowed to just have fun and laugh at ourselves sometimes. And what a great lesson to teach our kids as they go through this high-pressure anxiety-ridden society.
The brilliant thing about rainy day mini-adventures is that you can do them almost anywhere, just go straight out your front door and you’re sure to find some puddles somewhere to splash through.
You can read about my family’s rainy day fun below.
my family’s Rainy Day Bike ride
This week it was pouring rain over a couple days, ruining my plans for a warm beach swim with my son. But we were getting bored of playing at home, so I took a deep breath and then asked my son if he wanted to go for a bike ride – in the rain – with me.
His eyes lit up, he jumped up off the lounge and said, “that’s a great idea, let’s go!”
I didn’t pack much, just a water bottle, a couple snacks, a little umbrella and a towel for me to sit on wherever we decided to stop (all wrapped in a plastic bag). My son didn’t think rainclothes were necessary (“I can just change clothes when I get home, mum!”), but I wore my raincoat.
When I packed the things onto my bike and put my helmet on, my son could not believe it. He was actually confused.
“Why are you doing that, mum?”
“Because I’m going to ride my bike too,” I grinned, a little stupidly. I’ve never rode a bike on an adventure with him before – I always walk.
“That’s so COOL! Let’s go!”
Off we went. Straight out of the driveway and into puddles. I was pretty nervous but also had the giddiness of trying something new. I went through all the puddles he did (not something I’ve ever done before). Because of the weather, there were really no people around to see me being silly with him, which helped me not to feel self-conscious of how ridiculous it was to ride through puddles as a responsible mother. It was the most fun I’ve had all year. We’ve done a few adventures already and done lots of fun and cool things, but this is the first adventure where I squealed and laughed myself silly.
We didn’t go far from home, but we were out for a few hours.
A great walking track near Murray’s Beach, NSW
First, we rode through the puddles along the road. Our amazing local postman saw, and rode his motorcycle through the puddles near my son, beeping as he went. He is a true legend with my kids. Then we went into the bush off Eighteenth/Twenty-Second Aves, along a wide grass/sand track. My son picked the trail which was basically flooded with rainwater (of course). We found a few little hills to ride down into puddles at the bottom and make big splashes, and took turns taking videos of each other.
My son said he was tired and wanted to go home, so I suggested we find a spot to have something to eat. – Note, when the kids are ‘ready to go home’ it often just means they need a snack – We went onto the beach near Boambee Headland for our snack break with a view. I took the chance to check for leeches, and flicked a couple off (this took plenty of courage).
Then we went down onto the beach, watched the waves smashing onto the rocks, climbed the headland for a look at the view, and then played down at the base of the headland on the beach. We followed the flow of water from the top of the headland down through the bush, under the stairs, and out onto the path. There was a gorgeous spot where the water from the hill was dripping down the rock face, and then creating a mini waterfall onto the beach. My son quickly set about damming it up, collecting rocks and trying to stop the water from escaping out to sea. He was very busy at work and I couldn’t help but join in. Eventually the water broke free, and we’d make a new wall, and it would break free somewhere else.
It was so rewarding to join my son on his adventure, something he loved and chose to do, rather than something we parents had picked. We will definitely go again, next time I’ll pack more food so we can stay out longer. There are more tracks to explore through the bush which lead to the headland or the main road, away from the beach, and there is plenty to do around the headland on a calm day, or even just play more on the beach.
For a mini-adventure, this one ticked all the boxes. We rode home happy, lungs full of fresh air, hearts filled with the satisfaction of being truly alive.