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Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Lost in the Woods
Friday night we kicked off Memorial Day weekend by taking a bike ride around the neighborhood after dinner. I just bought a helmet so I could set a good example for my daughter, and had not been on the bike for about 2 years. Denny and I have comfort bikes which are perfect for riding around the neighborhood, and we used to ride to a local wine bar before we had Dylan. I had run 2 miles before work on Friday morning, so I was excited about a relaxing ride around the neighborhood. Halfway through the ride we get to a little trail by one of the neighborhood pools which we had seen people riding on before. We decide to get on that and see where it takes us. Granted our comfort bike tires are better for this then Denny's road bike tires, but they are not as good as mountain bike tires.
We start down the trail with Dylan on the back of Denny's bike in the bike seat. This trail was nothing but hills, skinny bridges and lots of tree roots. I can see Dylan's little bike helmet bouncing around in front of me. We ride for what seems like 30 minutes and pass another guy on a mountain bike. Denny asks him if we are close to the exit and he says, "Oh yeah, it is right up there." Fifteen minutes later we get to the exit, and it turns out it is the exit to Huntersville Park (which is a few miles from our house). We get back on the trail and run into the guy once again, and ask if he knows where our neighborhood is. He was not sure but he said the trail loops around. He asks how long we have been riding, and because neither of us has a watch on, we just say it has been awhile. He then tells us the trail is 6 miles. He also says he has never seen a baby in a bike seat out here before. He said he was impressed, and if we wanted a smoother trail ride for Dylan we should go to Lake Norman park. Legs burning we continue on for another 45 minutes or so and finally make it back to our neighborhood.
We then coast back home and realize we have been gone for 1 and 1/2 hours and around 8 miles or more. Dylan is a little quiet and we are not sure if it is because of the bumpy ride or because it is past her bedtime. And after all of this, I look down and see that Denny has done the whole thing in flip flops! It was fun, but I was very sore the next day.
Lost in the Woods
Friday night we kicked off Memorial Day weekend by taking a bike ride around the neighborhood after dinner. I just bought a helmet so I could set a good example for my daughter, and had not been on the bike for about 2 years. Denny and I have comfort bikes which are perfect for riding around the neighborhood, and we used to ride to a local wine bar before we had Dylan. I had run 2 miles before work on Friday morning, so I was excited about a relaxing ride around the neighborhood. Halfway through the ride we get to a little trail by one of the neighborhood pools which we had seen people riding on before. We decide to get on that and see where it takes us. Granted our comfort bike tires are better for this then Denny's road bike tires, but they are not as good as mountain bike tires.
We start down the trail with Dylan on the back of Denny's bike in the bike seat. This trail was nothing but hills, skinny bridges and lots of tree roots. I can see Dylan's little bike helmet bouncing around in front of me. We ride for what seems like 30 minutes and pass another guy on a mountain bike. Denny asks him if we are close to the exit and he says, "Oh yeah, it is right up there." Fifteen minutes later we get to the exit, and it turns out it is the exit to Huntersville Park (which is a few miles from our house). We get back on the trail and run into the guy once again, and ask if he knows where our neighborhood is. He was not sure but he said the trail loops around. He asks how long we have been riding, and because neither of us has a watch on, we just say it has been awhile. He then tells us the trail is 6 miles. He also says he has never seen a baby in a bike seat out here before. He said he was impressed, and if we wanted a smoother trail ride for Dylan we should go to Lake Norman park. Legs burning we continue on for another 45 minutes or so and finally make it back to our neighborhood.
We then coast back home and realize we have been gone for 1 and 1/2 hours and around 8 miles or more. Dylan is a little quiet and we are not sure if it is because of the bumpy ride or because it is past her bedtime. And after all of this, I look down and see that Denny has done the whole thing in flip flops! It was fun, but I was very sore the next day.
No reason to worry. Dylan only fell out of the bike seat a few times. Her head is super hard though so a few trees have dents in them now. They will survive right? I wish I knew more about trees.
The best part of the entire trail was called The Pyramid. Its a big stack of logs in the path that you have to jump over. I'll admit I should have built up more speed considering I had the extra weight of a bike seat and a baby on the back but we still got some good air.
Next time you're over at our house I'll take you over there. It would be a lot of fun if we had a tandem bike.