14 Miles! What Was I Thinking?

Today we finally got to go bike riding. This was the first time I've been on a bike in probably 30 years or more. We got up and had an early breakfast at Denny's, then hit the road. We drove to the bike rental shop next to one of the starting points of the trail. The guy working the counter told us that south would be a good direction to go, with a small town about 7 miles down the path. I was very intimidated by this, but the path was very straight and level, plus or minus a few very gradual inclines/slopes. So we decided to go for it. We got off to a shaky start, with me and my wife almost plowing into our son a couple of times, as he wanted to move out of our way as we were trying to pass him. As a result, he kept drifting right into our paths. Finally, I told him to think of it as driving a car. Stay in the slow lane, and if anyone wants to pass, let them by on the left. As promised, I took a few pictures along the way.

This first set is an old cemetery we passed on the trail. Of course, I had to stop and take these photos. What funeral directing blog would be complete without the occasional cemetery photos? Some of the graves were dated from the mid-nineteenth century. There were numerous children's graves from the early twentieth century. Ages ranged from a few days old to about 6 or 7 years old.









These last ones are an old railroad marker along the trail. It's carved out of granite. The other is a set of hitching posts at our turnaround point on the trail. There is a horse trail that parallels the bike trail. Perhaps next time we'll try some horseback riding. The final picture is a spooky old tree we saw on a side trail.









After resting at our turnaround point for about 20 minutes, we headed back up the trail. I knew I was in trouble about one mile back into our 7 mile trip. I kept experimenting with different gears, trying to find the perfect combination of easy peddling and good rotation. With the gears set one way, you had a very easy time peddling, but you didn't advance very far on one rotation of the pedals. At the other end, you could propel the bike a few feet with just one revolution of the pedals, but it took some strength, which I was rapidly running out of. Anyhow, I found a suitable gear and struggled back to our starting point.

After we got back in the car we were discussing our route home, and lunch (it was about noon; we biked for two and half hours.) Since we weren't too far away, I decided to take the family by the National Cemetery where we do a good deal of our burials, and show them around. We headed over there and looked around some. I paid my respects to some of our customers, then we hit the road for lunch at Cracker Barrel, where I found a collection of Pink Panther cartoons in the gift shop.

All of us were so beat when we got home (we had been gone about 9 hours) that all three of us fell onto the nearest padded surface and promptly took a nap. Still, it was a very enjoyable day and I'm glad we went, despite the price my legs and butt will be paying the next few days.