My bike... A continuing love story...

I don't yet have a picture of my bike. The recent rains have kept her cooped up in the shed except for two rides we did last weekend. She's almost completely outfitted now that she's got a mount for my iPhone (for trail maps!), a water bottle bracket, and a detachable basket. One last item we need to add is a kick stand. It will lose a few more "cool factor" points for having a sissy kick stand but... After the shame of a basket, it'll probably survive the indignity of a kick stand. 

As with most purchases, I labored over which basket to buy. The rugged metal basket looked hardier and had handles so you could detach it and carry it around - say... At the grocery store. But ultimately I chose the collapsible nylon basket with handles AND a drawstring top. Being able to stow it when not in use and secure items in the basket should I take a tumble were the final selling features. 

On Saturday we decided that we needed a few things at Stop & Shop and since it's only a few miles through the woods, we would ride our bikes. Great idea until we realized that the item we needed most weighed about 15lbs and might make navigating the wooded trails a tad tricky. Intrepid bikers that we are (cough!), we bought the items, loaded them directly into the basket while in the store (I love the "you scan" gun thingy!) and decided on an alternate route home along the power lines to the backside of a neighborhood, then a quick stint on the main road and then up the hill/dirt road to the back entrance to our neighborhood. 

It was a good plan until we ran into "The Great Lakes of Cape Cod"! The recent rains had left HUGE puddles along the power line trail that, at first, we bumbled along the edges of while I worked out my arms keeping my basket upright. Then I just went for it and rode straight through them... Thankful that none of them were actually a sinkhole or pond and that they were only ~4-6 inches deep at the most.  

It was worth it and we had fun!

The next day we loaded up the basket (perhaps I should name the basket... Any suggestions???) with my on-call books (another 10lbs), a towel, on call phone etc and set out for Mystic Lake. 

Mystic Lake is very close - maybe 2 miles - to our house as the crow flies. During our big "walking several miles every night" kick, we used to drive over and walk Brody through the neighborhood (and talk about how we'd get voted out the first summer if we lived there because of our refusal to manicure our lawn and gardens to perfection) often parking at the lake parking area. 

This time we checked out Google maps and spotted a path that leads from the end of a dead end dirt road not far from our house, around a cranberry bog and up onto Mystic Lake Drive. Aside from the poison ivy we managed to narrowly avoid and one surprise patch of deep sand that tried to swallow my front tire, it was a lovely ride ending at the lake with a little wading, beach-sitting, and peaceful catching up. Perfection!

So... The love of my new bike continues. My butt bones aren't in total agreement yet - more like a love/hate relationship with the seat - but they'll get there... if it ever stops raining!