First Bike Ride 2017

 
Subtitle: How to Sew a Vest on a Button.

This story all started when we were inserting Shopko ads into an advertising flyer at work. They had a really good price on comforters, and the picture looked like I might even like them. Well, I've been looking for one, since mine is 25 years old and not in good shape at all. The problem begins when I tell you that Shopko is 30 miles away from me. And I HATE shopping.

Anyway... if I were going to drive that far, I'd hate to be doing so for only one reason. Thus I began looking for more justification for said trip. Item number two: the Hart-Montague Rail Trail. They resurfaced it in 2015, and I hadn't been on it at all since then. It had gotten in pretty bad shape, so a nice smooth ride was appealing. And the weather was supposed to be nice this weekend.



And... I found out some additional information about something interesting (which I'll show you tomorrow). To get a new picture also required a trip to that same general area.

I woke up feeling really good- not Saturday-awful at all.

Now that we've constructed a decent sized vest for that button, let me tell you that the button disintigrated. I didn't like any of the comforters, but I did buy some other stuff. The thing is, when you hate to shop, and you actually find yourself in a store you don't go to often, it pays to look around to see what they have that is on your "really must buy sometime soon" list.

The rail trail sure is a nice ride now. Not only was it resurfaced, but they reconstructed the picnic turnouts and benches and mile markers.



My usual first ride of the year is about six miles. (And I hate to tell you this, but I did not take one single bike ride all last year. How horrible is that!) But since I had lugged the bike all the way down there, and the trail was so nice, I wanted to take advantage of all that. My plan was to ride for an hour. And I did it! According to the mileposts, I rode out 5 miles and, obviously, 5 miles back, for a total of 10. I'm not even sore. Not even my seat!

This is just an unnamed wetland seen from the turnout shown above, but water views are always welcome.



And I even found a flower in bloom. It's not very impressive, but it was blooming. I think it's Cuckoo Flower, Cardamine pratensis, but not even a good example of that. As you can see, it's growing in rocks. It's on the shoulder of the trail, which has to be a terrible location.


The leaves aren't fully open, and it's struggling for every breath, so the features one would look for to ID the plant aren't good exemplars. But, hey, it's a flower!

	See Ellen and Joan Take an Excellent Bike Ride
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