WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!

We started this lovely day in the best fashion possible: coffee in the hot tub in the backyard. Followed it up with early service at church - love that.  Then, a GREAT bike ride with our friend Beth, now known as the Queen of the Clip-in.  

Seriously, we could not have asked for a more beautiful day!!  Temp was right around 80, normal humidity, sunny.  Just a great day all around.

We really are making the most of the Raleigh Greenway system!  It seems like so long ago that our little City approved the bonds for expansion of the Greenway system - once in 2003, and another round in 2007.  I really hope that everyone sees how beneficial it is for our community!  By the end of it all, a person will be able to loop all the way around the city on nothing but Greenway trails!  It's going to be a cyclist's delight!!

Check out the system here: http://www.raleighnc.gov/arts/content/PRecDesignDevelop/Articles/CapitalAreaGreenwayTrailSystem.html

Today, we rode out and back on a section that was just recently completed - the House Creek Trail.  Boy, it was hilly, but still fun!  We started at Crabtree Valley Mall, and went west-ish, eventually hooking up with the NC Museum of Art trail, and then onto the Reedy Creek Section, turning around at Umstead State Park.  The total journey was a little over 13 miles - Beth and I are working our mileage up.  Eventually, we'll be back to 30 mile rides and such.  

I threw my chain at one point - BUT I didn't fall off!  That may be a first.  Typically, if I throw a chain, I panic, scream at Arjay "Help me! Help me!" pedaling furiously as I teeter along, wheels slowly losing momentum, until I finally ending up in a cursing pile on the ground.  Not today!  Today, I triumphed!  No panic - Arjay was already on ahead (he was riding his fixed gear, so it's impossible for him to really "slow it down" on the downhill, so he didn't know what was going on.)  So, I just un-clipped.  Who knew that's all it took??  Ha!  Then, of course, I had to figure out how to get my chain back on...which i did.  Arjay is so great at being my Knight in Shining Armor, that sometimes I forget that I can actually DO STUFF.  So, I guess I kind of needed him to not be there once, in order to figure out how to do it.  He did come back up that big long hill once he realized I wasn't there - God bless him.  That fixie is hard on his knees on those hills...but he is a TROOPER.

Beth is a great riding partner!  We can commiserate about how mean the bike seats are, and how mean the hills are.  Looking forward to more rides with her!!

Here's a photo from the ride - this is on the Reedy Creek Trail, about 1 mile-ish from Umstead.  We are on the way back, heading back toward the Museum of Art.  That's Beth and Arjay wayyyyy ahead in the distance.  I love this town.