And feeling very immortal, Patrick and I hit the bike trail this past Sunday. It's been a while since my last entry, I think the cold winter took longer to pass this year and my fingers have finally thawed to type. There's been some knitting. Some home decorating. A few personal changes. I've even gotten out and mowed the grass a few times. But, this past Sunday was our first trip onto the bike trail in 2008.
Patrick is always anxious to head out for an adventure on our bikes, at least at first. I'm just the opposite. I dread putting the bike rack on the Mobile Lime. Despite what the manufacturer said on the package, my bike rack was not made for a VW Beetle. Also, despite that my car sits so low to the ground, I didn't want to have to lift bikes over my head to get them on the top of the car. Well... I'm not lifting over my head, but it's pretty close. Once I get the bikes on the car, and then holding my breath the short car ride to the trail praying to the Goddess of Single Moms that the bikes don't slide off and my son's prize possession doesn't end up mangled under the wheels of a Suburban, I exhale when I'm there and in park. Then I realize, I have to get the bikes off the rack.
But, the bikes come down and we get started. We review the rules of riding. We review our signals and then Patrick zooms off ahead of me forgetting all the things we'd just covered in the excitement of the open road. I've learned to go later in the afternoon, the serious cyclists training for some national cycling event have hopefully been out much earlier. There are still plenty who take their ride seriously and I try to keep both of us out of their way.
This particular day, we started further up the trail, hoping to see some previously unexplored bike path. We did go a total of 12 miles, and given the weather with threatening storm clouds and blustery winds, that was a lot, however, we never got past the point I had made it on my 20 mile ride last October. Another lesson learned, take into account the direction and the strength of the wind when determining just how far one should go before coming back. In our case, it took all we had to make the last 6 miles back to the car.
I'm sure we'll venture out again this weekend, it will be Memorial Day Weekend and perhaps I'll have forgotten the pain in my shoulders (from lifting the bikes) and the pain in my tail bone (from sitting on my, well you know...) to get back out there and maybe go a bit farther.
As for knitting, I've just finished a poncho for a friend of a friend. Some people look great in ponchos, others, well they look like camping tents that sleep a family of four. This particular poncho is knitted with one strand of Lion Brand Incredible in "Accent on Black" (a variegated black gray color) and a strand of Lion Brand's Trellis in a lime and turquoise color. I happened to have enough yarn in my stash and the Trellis was perfect for adding a dash of color to the monotone Incredible. Incredible is similar to Ticker Tape, which I'd used for a previous poncho. My friend will take an extra skein of the Trellis and make fringe. I suspect it will terrific on the person who will be getting it, just because it luckily happened to be colors that compliment her own coloring.
I have plenty of projects on deck, including curtains for my bedroom and a snuggly afghan made from a variegated brown, pink and cream that I just love.