Christmas Ride
My parents usually go away for Christmas, but this year they decided to stay home and since I had loose plans to see the young man, come New Years, I thought I’d head up to their place and be fed. Somehow I also talked my father into going for a ride with me… though he warned me that trail conditions might be a bit rough so I should bring my Ariel hybrid. Whilst I was loading my stuff into my car, I thought long and hard over which bike I should take… The sensible hybrid.. or my lady? I really, really wanted to ride my lady, but I didn’t want to loose out on a ride if conditions were too bad… so I went ahead and loaded both of them. It’s a three hour drive so it was a good test for how the bike rack and my little car handled having both my darlings. I made it safely, both bikes intact.
My parents live way up on the wee north tip of North Carolina, in the only place that’s flat in the whole state. My poor father pulled his Mongoose mountain bike out of the garage, blew some of the cobwebs off, we pumped up the tires, and headed off. It was a lovely day, at least 45 and beautiful outside. Not too much wind, everything was lovely. I headed out on my Bella, rationalizing that if conditions on the trail turned out to be too rough, I could turn around and get Ariel and be just fine. Conditions were not too rough. We kept an easy pace - my father was at a severe mechanical disadvantage to my lady and I’ve really been getting some good, distance covering legs from my trainer. So as we started up, I got us talking and made sure to stick with him at a talking pace. Most of the time. xD
My father’s neighbor’s are fabulous! On the Durham trails in my city, you have to call out loudly when you want to pass people because they’re all over the trail, on both sides of the little painted lines. And when you do, with a “‘Scuse me! On your left! Can I get through please?” They often don’t care. Or, if they’re runners, they have their headphones on and can’t hear you. I know bikes yield to heels but on a wide trail I feel like I should be able to pass.
My father’s neighbors however, not only kept to one side of the trail, when I’d call out a howdy, they’d clear to the side of the road with their dogs. I was all excited about not having to break speed, and kept thanking everyone and wishing them a Merry Christmas. The dogs were good too! Only one broke discipline and tried to chase me, and his owner had a firm hand on the leash. Such good doggies.
Like I said, everything is flat out here so I had a fantastic ride. I felt so strong and fast and capable, me and my lady, that I just couldn’t wait to do it again. I decided to stay the night so I could get out on their trail for a really good long ride the next day before going home…
… And there’s now 13.5inches of snow out there. Holy cow, it’s looking like I’m not going to be able to ride or drive home anytime soon. Send trainers!