Went Riding with the Wife

Ten miles ( a lot for me, it was killing her!) and two hot dog specials later, we are still alive.

OK, Usually my complaint with myself is that I don't have any pictures but this time I didn't write any words and that  shame because something needs to be said about the effort that my Honey put out keeping up to me and the incredible Hot Dogs we had for dinner. 

My wife has this Raleigh MTB that she got as a gift from her parents when she graduated High School. Last year she decided that she doesn't like riding it because the frame is too small. OK. Sure. Another Raleigh bike that was in her family was her dad's Marathon which got passes on to me a few years ago. I really enjoy riding that bike around and was very thankful to him for letting me have it as it replaced my too-small Peugeot. Last year I was able to get my hands on a matching mixtie version of the Marathon and I bought it and had the LBS fix it up. She rode it once and did not touch it again until this ride.

One of our favorite trails to ride is the Marsh Trail in Salisbury. It is not very long but we never fail to see bird life and little critters that often scamper right over the trail in front of us! On those occasions where we have our toddler with us he thinks that is pretty darn cool. We set out on this trail this evening and, before we even began she informed me that she wanted to go over the bridge and ride around Newburyport. So, that's what we did. She was a Brave Little Toaster but by the time we made it up and back the Marsh Trail and over the bridge, she was wiped out and hungry. I wanted to ride a little bit on the Clipper City Trail as it has a spur that connects to Cashman's Park that I had not explored yet. It was there that we came across a hot dog cart.

The people running it live nearby and had actually just gone into business that day! They were very nice and cart was spotlessly clean. The dogs were delicious and we even got fortune cookies for desert! Excellent first effort from those folks. I hope that they do well.

After our pick-nick meal she got her second wind and I got to do a little more exploring. We rode down to the train station, which was a lot closer than I though and cut back through the city. and over the bridge. Climbing the bridge was the biggest hill for sure, but there were a few other little hills involved in the ride. It was a challenge for me and definitely for her! She had some trouble getting the hang of friction-shifting her gears. She made it the whole way. I think that ten miles is a very respectable First Ride for her.