I Think We Took a Wrong Turn in Albuquerque

L asked me to go with him on a bike ride Sunday night. Okay. I can do this. I waited until dinner digested enough and then we headed off into the cool evening. We normally bike about two miles every night while R and RL walk. They didn't want to walk, so we were on our own. We were almost to the point in our ride where we cross a very busy road, bike just a little longer and then turn for home. This particular night he asked if I wanted to go right instead of straight. Sure, I'm a cool mom! I'm adventerous! (NOT!) I'll do it. Off we went. It was beautiful! The trees in that particular housing development were gorgeous! Huge shadows were over the road. It was a little overcast and the breeze was blowing slightly. We realized we didn't have to peddle much, it was downhill! However, every 'downhill' turns into an 'uphill' on the way home. Suddenly I wasn't too sure about this anymore. Then I thought, what the heck. We have the cellphone. RL has the truck. If he needs to pick us up he can. That innocent right turn at the beginning of our ride turned into a four mile uphill almost all the way bike ride! The last time I had to breath that hard I had a Lamaze coach! I was truly tempted to tell him, "Go on without me. Leave me here by the road to die. Survival of the fittest. Carpe Diem." Well, it wasn't that dramatic. Maybe because I couldn't catch my breath to say all those things! L has the mentality of 'No man left behind' - or 'No Mom left behind' in this case. He would go ahead of me to the top of the hill and see what was ahead of us. Finally, after walking maybe a third of it, I started seeing familiar territory. No way was I going to call RL to come and get me when I was less than a mile from home. It was tempting though...... Finally we made it home. L kept checking my pulse - I didn't have to - I was thrilled I still had one. I'm not so sure I'll be able to convince my tush to get on that bike seat again anytime soon!