Thursday, August 8, 2013

Day 2: The First Ride

Ready to Hit the Trail

After making the bike purchase (see previous post), it was time for the inaugural ride.  We put the bike in the back of the truck along with my wife's bike and our kid's Trail-A-Bike (FYI, my wife's name is Cameron, and our 6-year old is Bergen).  We headed down the hill to Duluth's Lakewalk.  The Lakewalk is a treasure - a paved trail right on the shore of mighty Lake Superior.  It is very popular with walkers, joggers, family outings and wandering tourists in the summer, which means it isn't great in the evenings for serious cyclists going faster than everyone else.  It's a good thing we aren't serious bicyclists...yet.  We parked at the new lot off 21st Avenue East.  It is a good starting point near the midpoint of the 7.3 mile trail.  We got the trail a bike hooked up to Cameron's bike so I would be free to test out my new bike without the encumbrance of the trail a bike.  The kickstand on Cameron's bike helped out when hooking up the trail a bike...I maybe should have gotten one after all.  We got everything set to go, strapped on the helmets and headed out.  First issue.  My helmet fell off.  The strap wasn't right - it is a helmet I got free at a training session.  I cobbled it together and we took off again, heading down the lake shore.  There are a few small hills along the way, and when we crested one and entered Leif Erickson Park, Bergen decided she'd rather pretend she was a thespian on the Park's historic rock stage.  So I went on without the gals for a bit getting the feel for the bike.  Everything seemed in order.  After they were done on the stage, we headed back home.  Results of the first ride...everything seemed in order, but I will need a new helmet.

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