Twenty Five Mile Adventure

Gavin and I spent four hours riding along the river yesterday. We got his bike out of the bike shop this past week and have been anxiously awaiting the weekend to take a long ride. We were determined to surpass our record of twenty two miles and we did (barely) and made it a twenty five mile ride. It was an adventuresome day for sure. First off we rode by an area made for jumping. Gav stopped and made a few jumps. One of the other kids there had a horrible looking crash and I could tell he was hurt pretty bad. That was enough for me so we continued on our way. Around the eight mile mark we stopped at a little wetland area and had roasted garlic flavored hummis, tomato, lettuce sandwiches and apples that we carried in our backpack. From there we went thru two parks, one which was holding a free concert and so we were able to enjoy riding to music for a stretch. Next we rode along Warm Springs Golf Course which is very beautiful. Past the golf course quite a ways is the Shakespeare Production Company where they hold outdoor performances of Shakespeare classics. We haven't made it to one of these yet, but it is on the list of things we want to do. We trudged on past this to the turnaround point, twelve point five miles. Shortly after turning around we found a little lost puppy who was trying to cross the busy road. Our bike ride was interrupted briefly with us trying to help an elderly lady find the owner of the puppy. She ended up taking the dog to a near by neighborhood where she thought it lived. She was glad I had a cell phone and I was glad she was there to take the dog. Again, once we turned around we discovered the wind was no longer at our backs. It made for some really tough riding back. Around the fourteen mile mark we came upon a restaurant with an outdoor patio that actually invites trail riders. The Stone House looked too good to pass up. We stopped and ordered energy drinks and a plate of fried onion rings. We felt we earned it. While sitting there we discovered a raccoon nesting on top of one of the arbors near by. Gavin was able to stand on top of one of the tables and snap a picture of it. It was so cute! Once we were refueled we were anxious to get the last ten miles behind us. I had felt really good all the way until about the twenty mile mark when I started to hurt all over. At first it was my butt followed by my legs followed by my back followed by my neck until I was one big achy blob. I had to talk to myself from that point on in order to make it. I congratulated Gavin on making it all the way without one complaint. He is an awesome bike buddy and is already looking forward to our next trip. Me, I'm still waiting for my legs to uncramp.