That was the song that was going through my mind as Liz and I got ready to go off on our 30 mile bike ride. My Dad used to sing that whenever we were headed out for fun--whether we were headed off on vacation to the lake, going skiing, heading off to Wisconsin or Michigan to visit the relatives, or in his later years, heading off to go to dinner or to Dairy Queen. My Dad saw life as an adventure, and I'm really happy I learned that from him. Whenever I feel excited about something I'm about to do, "we're off on a big adventure" comes to mind.
Liz and I explored the new connections between the local bike paths today. It was great--we were able to cycle 32 miles and the only sections we did on the road were the 2.5 miles between our house and the start of the bike path in downtown Florence. There is one funky section where we had to take a short section of unpaved path and carry our trikes over the railroad tracks. I'm not sure what the city was thinking of with that little part of the path.
The bike path is a great place to cycle a long distance because it's relatively flat, except for the road to and from our house, and it's a really safe place to cycle in terms of not sharing the space with cars. It was also fun because we got to interact with all the people on the path. We got some great comments about our trikes. We got some wows, an impressed whoa, someone who said our trikes looked like formula 1 race cars, and my favorite, the person who said we were on the Lazy Boys of bikes. What an accurate description--our bodies are exactly in the position we would be in if we were leaning back on Lazy Boys.
The bike path is also a great place for scenery--taking the long bridge over the Connecticut River, riding along in the woods. The major change that has happened on the path between Northampton and Belchertown since we used to blade on it regularly is that the beavers have really taken over about a 4 mile stretch. What used to be a small beaver pond that was surrounded by trees is now a wide open area that's become a pretty giant swamp. The beavers really clearcut and flooded the entire area. While I miss the trees, there are some great views of the Seven Sisters mountain chain that we couldn't see before.
Despite all the good things about the route, I doubt we'll take it again until they repave it (something that's been talked about for years). There are potholes, big cracks where tree roots are pushing up the pavement, and long sections that are so lumpy (for Pokelas, think of the road to Crow Wing Crest at its worst), that it's extremely unpleasant to bike on.
I'm discovering that cycling really makes me have to pee. By the time we got to the end of the bike path, after about an hour and a half of cycling, I was desperate. I incorrectly remembered portable toilets at that end--I had to use the mosquito-infested woods. Drat those beavers for creating the swamp. And I was desperate again by the time we got home. That has never happened to me blading. Weird.
Anyway, we had fun and want to take a long ride every weekend. Mapmyride estimated that we burned 1,600 calories. Not bad. I just wish we had a personal chef to make us dinner upon our return-- I only had enough energy to make some popcorn and sit in front of the tv. I'm going to ask Mark to take it easy on my legs tomorrow--I have some very sore knees.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment