Back in the Saddle

Poor Black Beauty has been feeling somewhat neglected.  We have only been going to and from work (that's no fun) and short errands like to the library and Weight Watchers meetings.  That all came to an end yesterday though.  I finally got in a good ride.

I had planned to bike to Westham Island and check out the wineries, farm stands and whatever else they have there.  I got a bit of a late start though, so thought it might be a bit overly ambitious.  The round trip would be about 45 Km.  I opted instead to head out along River Road and go into Deas Island Park again.  It was a bit of a tough go, even though the road was flat.  I had a pretty brisk headwind heading out.  It was gorgeous in the park, but lots and lots of people.

I discovered this really great old Victorian house.  The photo doesn't even come close to doing it justice.  The house and the beautiful flower garden in the front were breathtaking.  Isn't it a beauty?

After a short jaunt through the park, I headed back out to the highway.  I'd seen another sign for a bike route and thought I would check it out.   I led me along a meandering road that went past horse farms, old farm  houses and fields of corn.  I wasn't sure where I'd come out, but I suspected it would take me to Hwy. 10.  I was half right.  I ended up riding for what seemed like forever and finally saw signs of another highway.  There was quite a lot of traffic, so it was a bit dicey for a few minutes.  When I got to where I thought I wanted to go, I was standing there with my bike thinking, "Holy shit, this looks like the FREEWAY!!"  Traffic was whizzing by really fast, but I finally got to the other side and onto the shoulder of the road.  Luckily it was not the freeway, but the new highway to the ferry terminal which had a really nice bike lane.  It's a new connector, so it's no wonder I was a bit disoriented at first.  

Soon, I came to Hwy 10 and knew exactly where I was.  The ride back home was nice.  I had a tailwind this time around.  I was pretty tired though and I'll tell you, nothing in the world tasted better than the Kashi Chia, dark chocolate and salted almond granola bar.  The bar was all soft and melty from sitting in my pack in the sun, but it was the tastiest granola bar I've ever had.

Funny thing about this ride is I ended up not going to my original destination because I thought it would be too far.  This one ended up being 40Km.  The Westham Island would've only added 4Km to that and would've been a much more scenic ride.  Oh well, live and learn.  At least I know I can ride that far without any problem.

My legs were wonderfully tired and my mind very mellowed out.  Great ride.