20 Miles and 2 Big Hills and Then Some
Last November my parents bought me a new bike. A pretty sweet bike. They were every sneeky about it and I was happily surprised. Since then I have gone on a handful of infrequent short rides. Well, on Saturday my sisters, Jenna and Aimee, and I went on a 20 mile ride on the Red Cedar Trail. And at the end of the ride I was still able to bike up the 2 big hills to get back home!
We started from home rode through bustling downtown Menomonie to the trail head. Once on the trail we followed it passed Irvington to Downsville. It was a beautiful day, not too hot or sunny. We rode at a moderate pass enjoying the views or the river to one side and bluffs, hills, and fields to the other. Along with wonderful conversation with each other.
I haven’t been on the trail in many years. Many sites where familiar, some things had changed. We rode my the path I took as kid to get to the trail from Pixie and Dan’s. The hill there isn’t so steep anymore. We rode across the bridge in Irvington, where we would spend summer afternoons “fishing” for tadpoles. We always managed to catch quite a few. many we took home and put in our pond. Most of those became fish food for our gold fish. And a lucky few actually grew into frogs. And then on to Downsville where we walked down to the river when I was in Brownies and let our boat go. Hoping the letters attached to them would be mailed back to us from the far corners of the world.
It was a lovely ride. :)
Yesterday I brought my bike over to Andy’s and we went on a 7 mile ride through the east side of Madison. We mainly followed the path along the Arboretum. We went up many hills and I’m happy to say I made it up every one of them. We passed a house that had free water. There was a small drinking fountain in the front yard and a sign saying walkers, runners, joggers, bikers, pets, etc. are welcome to stop and take a drink. It was quite possibly the best water I’ve ever had.