30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4--Bike Rack

Most of you know that I (Andrew) ride my bike to school most days. It is a completely downhill ride, which means coming home would be a completely uphill ride. Last year, each day Ruth would swing by NCA with the van and we'd put down the backseat in order to cram my bike inside for an easy "ride" home! The fabric on the backseat isn't quite so good anymore, and the kids who happened to be riding in the van at the time weren't always thrilled to have the bike taking up the majority of the space. This summer we were able to take an old donated bike rack down in our luggage, and we are so thankful for the ease of putting my bike on it each day! I still get the benefit of having the van shuttle my bike up the hill for me without tearing up our van. This year, Henry and a few neighbor boys have joined me on occasion riding bikes to school on the Cow Trail--our rack can accommodate 3 bikes, so it's no problem at the end of the day bringing the bikes up to our house! It also makes our van easily identifiable... Not only do we have the only red minivan in Managua, it is also VERY rare to see a bike rack. I'm sure each time we are out on the road someone is thinking, "There go those crazy Gringos!"