Pedal Super Power

I love cycling!

What is it exactly that I like about it? Is it the feeling of freedom? The wind in my hair? Being outdoors? Listening to nature's sounds? Stopping for an ice cream?

Well, a little of each of these. But, our last cycling adventure opened my eyes to something more powerful. Something encouraging.

We often ride into town along the bike paths, stopping to look at nature and to have our usual ice cream. But, the one thing that was different last weekend was, my daughter wore her 'Spiderman Outfit'. You know the one... plain blue on the back, but on the front is Spiderman's red superhero outfit outline, complete with foam along the shoulders through to the arms, giving the impression of bulky muscles.

As we rode along, she received encouraging comments from strangers like, 'go Spiderman', 'you can do it Spiderman' and 'you are so fast Spiderman'. This inevitably increased her confidence and encouraged her to ride faster and more vigorously.

My little Spiderman did fall off her bike towards the end of our bike ride though, but with the strength of a real super hero, she ignored her bloody elbow, wiped her tears away and got straight back on her bike again. Minutes later her little legs were cycling as fast as her bike would allow.

I asked her later, how did it make her feel when she heard everyone encouraging her? Her response was, "Mummy, it made me feel good and I felt like a real Super Hero."

I encouraged her to hold onto that feeling and if she was ever unsure of anything or lacked confidence in the future, to just imagine wearing her Spiderman outfit again. We are, after all, Super Heroes in our own little way.

It's just that sometimes, we need to be reminded!