I’ve been lucky enough enough to have had three days off in a row this week.  I’m feeling restless, wanting to DO SOMETHING with this time; something I haven’t done in a long time, something fun, something that’s been on my list of things to do someday.  I thought about going to the zoo, there are several new exhibits since I was there when I was a kid over 40 years ago…but it’s quite a drive.  Thought about heading down to a few towns I used to live in and poke around the neighborhoods.  Also quite a drive.  Thought about heading up north for that trip I didn’t get to take a couple of weeks ago…but there was that drive thing again.

So I settled on a bike ride.  There’s a rails-to-trails route not so far away from me.  About three years ago, when I bought myself a new bike, I attempted to bike from a town at one end of it to the town at the other.  It was a hot, humid day, my tires were under inflated, and I gave up about 5 miles down the trail.  Today my tires were correctly inflated, it was in the mid 70’s with an overcast sky and I was determined to go the whole distance and back.  I had no idea how far that was, figured it was maybe 6 miles one way, but whatever.

I picked up a map at the start of the trail, but realized I hadn’t brought my reading glasses, so it was pretty useless.  I figured I’d just ride and figure it out as I went.  Since it’s a trail built on a railroad grade it’s pretty level, with crushed limestone which was well packed.  It was quite busy at the start with people and their families out biking, walking the dog, jogging.  The trail follows Paint Creek as it meanders through woods and marshland.  I got to see the back yards of some pretty spectacular houses along the way.  But it seemed to be uphill.  A lot.  Or my tires were flat again.  Or something.    Apparently I have a 21 gear bike.  One handle has 3 numbers, and the other has 7 numbers.  I played it pretty safe, stayed with the 2 on the left, and moved around from the 3 to the 5 on the right.  Didn’t see any reason to get myself in trouble trying to be some kind of bike pro.  After awhile I began to wonder if I would fail at this challenge again.  I stopped under a bridge, tried to read the map,  had a drink of water, took off my sunglasses and headed off again.  I was determined not to fail.  It seemed to go better after the drink and without the sunglasses I got a better breeze which was cooling, although there were a few bug near misses.

I don’t know what I was thinking.  I used to run and so  I know that a technical shirt is cooler than a cotton one, but of course I wore cotton today.  Lesson learned.  Next bike ride (in another three years I suppose) I’ll be wearing a technical shirt and I”ll find my bike shorts.  The ones with the padding!

Nature report:  One female deer, standing down by the creek in the dappled shade, watching all the traffic go by.  Most people didn’t even notice her.  Cardinals and robins singing and flying across the trail in front of me.  Lots of dogs on leashes with their people, one Bichon in a basket on the handle bars of her mama’s bike.  A few chipmunks, or maybe they were Reilly’s ground squirrels, hard to tell.  Two horses grazing nearby.

And can you tell what I saw out in the pond?

One big ole turtle swimming in a dammed up part of the creek.

He seemed very interested in me and eventually swam up almost to the viewing deck.  Maybe people feed him, I don’t know.  I bid him farewell and continued on.

Eventually I got to the next town.  Since I hadn’t paid attention to the mile marker at the start, I didn’t really have any concept of how far I had traveled.  But I was pretty sure it was more than 6 miles, and that most of it was uphill.  I cruised around downtown for a bit, looking for an ice cream place.  It seemed like there should be some reward for my work, and ice cream would have been perfect.  I remember years ago running with a friend and we’d stop at a little grocery store and buy one popcicle.  We’d split it and enjoy it all the way back home during our “cool down.”  I miss that.  Well, couldn’t find any ice cream store, so headed back.  And guess what?  It WAS mostly uphill coming out…so popped my gear up to 7 and started my flight downhill home.  🙂  Of course there were a few places that I was headed uphill again, but it was mostly downhill.  What a nice return!

When I got back to where I had parked I did the math based on the mile marker at the other end and the mile marker at the parking lot.  8.9 miles.  Times 2.  Hmmm… no wonder my hands were numb, my butt was sore, and my sciatic nerve was acting up again.  Probably should have ridden a few shorter trips prior.  All in all though a fun trip.

Lessons learned:

1.  Wear the right clothes.

2.  Take some food, I was starving!

3.  Check out the map before you leave home.

4.  Don’t wait three years to go on another bike trip.