Spring!! I love it. We biked to Bern today. This time both of us went. The wind blew against us on the way there so the ride home was smooth. We went to the same school I went to last time, but this time there were no kids around to scare. So, I (May) played on the Merry-go-Round which I have been wanting to do for some time. Overall it was a successful ride. On the way home, Byron had an epic race with a horse.

Byron's words: While we were heading home I saw three horses racing across a pasture towards us. I slowed down for a few seconds and pointed them out to Mayla. They splashed right through a pond and ran up alongside us, just fifteen feet away on the other side of a fence. Before we knew it, the horses were running full-tilt, racing past, as if to prove they were faster than us. So I leaned on my pedals, blew past Jemayla, and chased after them. The lead horse was young and rust-colored, and it was flanked by two white horses. I never thought I would catch them, but they slowed down as they reached a T in the road where their pasture ended. Somehow, they seemed to know we weren't taking the turn that would keep us near them.

I had the song "Rendevous" playing on my MP3 player, so I was feeling pretty competitive. Instead of riding straight, like I was supposed to, I veered to the right, switched gears, and pedaled furiously. The lead horse hesitated for a split-second, then kicked its back legs high into the air, pounded them on the ground, and took off like a shot with the two white horses galloping behind. The three horses immediately pulled ahead of me. I leaned forward and pedaled faster than I've ever pedaled before. To my amazement, I was gaining on them. Granted, the wind was at my back, and I was on a very slight downhill slope on a paved road, while the horses plowed through grass and uneven dirt, but I was racing with horses! The distance closed between us, and my visible success made me push even harder. I pulled even with the horses with a quarter of the pasture left, and barely pulled ahead just before they started to slow down. They stopped at the corner of the pasture, staring after me as I slumped over my handlebars in exhaustion. I coasted to a stop, and slowly pedaled back to where Jemayla was petting them on the noses.

We spent a few minutes letting the horses nose at us and nibble our shirts. I cursed myself for having already eaten my apple--I couldn't very well offer them my crushed, leftover salami and cheese sandwich. Finally we climbed back onto our bikes and started the long ride back. The horses didn't follow us this time.