About a mile from our house is a bike trail called the Cardinal Greenway. My husband and I waited for the stretch nearest our house to be completed for a couple of years.
The day finally came when the trail was open! We rushed to an athletic store to buy bikes. It was October, so we were lucky to even still find some. There were only a few left to choose from. I’d had my heart set on a pink one (yes, pink), but all they had was blue. I sighed. Okay, I’ll get a pink helmet then. Again, pink didn’t seem to be the color that year. I settled for red. It would have to do.
I work part-time, so I had more opportunities to ride than my husband did. I’d rather have gone with him, but I’d waited so long for the trail to be open, I went alone several times before he had a chance.
My first ride was exhilarating. The October air was crisp and the sunshine bright. Even though it was only a mile from our house, there were types of birds there we didn’t ever see. Bluebirds and orioles flitted in front of me, swooping down to catch bugs for their lunch. A canopy of tall trees with fall foliage created a shady canopy over some of the trail. As I rode along, wind in my hair, er, helmet, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t ridden a bike since high school high school!
When my husband finally had a chance to go with me, I bounced on my bicycle seat, excited to have his company, and for him to get to experience the fun I’d been having on the trail. We rode the mile up our country rode to the trail, glad when we traded the rough tar-surface road for the smooth-as-glass bike trail. We had fun laughing, pointing out birds, and zipping under the colorful leafy canopy.
When we’d gone a couple of miles, we headed back. My husband felt he’d had enough for his first ride in over thirty years. But promised we’d ride again together soon. A quarter mile from where the trail intersected our rode, I heard a noise behind me. A clank, a thunk, and a grumble from my husband had me slowing my bike and turning around.
“What happened?”
He gripped the handlebars. “My bike pedal fell off.”
“It did?”
“Yep.”
“But it’s a brand new bike!”
He raised his eyebrows. “That didn’t prevent it from falling apart.”
I shrugged. “I bet it wouldn’t have fallen apart if it were pink!”
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Cool facts about Indiana:
The first successful goldfish farm in the United States was opened in Martinsville in 1899.
Indiana Dunes region provides habitat for many unusual plants including prickly pear cactus, lichen mosses, bearberry and more than 20 varieties of orchids.
(Pictures provided by author and Indiana tourism bureau at http://www.in.gov/visitindiana/)
Thanks for hosting me, Annette :)
ReplyDeleteThe bike trail sounds heavenly and I love the Indiana trivia about the goldfish farm. I have not visited this state but would like to!
ReplyDeleteWe slso have bike trails near us. I love the fall photos.
ReplyDeleteI would love to try a bike trail. And I agree with you that if it had been pink, the bike would have been fine. Love the part about the gold fish.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com