Bike Riding

I'd suggested that we take this afternoon off.  Thinking that I'd get the two marmalades and a jelly that I'd planned on making today, done by lunch time.  Yeah right, it was nearly three o'clock by the time we left.  Because at that time I'm feeling a bit guilty because we aren't taking the dogs for a walk, but are leaving them at home, I end up taking them up to the old riding ring and playing ball to get them all tired out, so they'd be quite happy to go in the house and do nothing until we got back.

Maybe it was just as well we were late leaving, because it did actually rain, (really, rain, who'd a thought...?) just after lunch. 

We drove into Abbotsford and were going to ride the Discovery Trail.  We rode the first part of it a year or two ago, but this time we were going to ride the next section that hadn't yet been built the first time we rode it.  So we parked on Gladwin Rd, under the transmission lines, and set off.  The first part was all down hill, with some interesting little switch backs so that you couldn't get going too fast.  If you got going too fast and couldn't brake enough to make the tight corner, well it would have got real interesting and real ugly, real fast.  The trail is all paved (hmm, is that an oxymoron?), except for where it crosses a swampy area, and is a boardwalk.

After crossing the Abbotsford Mission Hwy, the trail starts uphill.  In a few places the trail  dumped you back out at the road, with no indication of where to pick it up again.  We just kept riding in the right direction, and always found it.  I managed to embarrass myself in front of the motoring public.  We had ridden across the road, and I decided to go up over a curb to the raised pavement behind it.  Figured I could just sort of jump the bike onto it.  Being old and well, being old, my timing wasn't quite right.  I pulled up on the handlebars an instant too soon, and the bike was coming back down as I hit the curb.  I managed to not totally fall off, but there was a bit of scrambling to keep my nose off the pavement.  Maybe one or two drivers had a funny story to tell at the supper table last night.

We passed the most interesting looking garden.  I'm guessing it is a community garden, but I'd like to check it out more sometime.

Once the uphill started, it didn't take long to start shedding layers.  Larry got rid of his jacket.

We were under the transmission lines the whole time.  

Maybe we were getting a free electrical boost to get up the hill. 

Nice fencing.  Yep, our tax dollars paid for all that.

Here we are at our end spot.  The trail continued on, and was heading quickly downhill, following Whatcom Rd down the mountain.  We decided we didn't want to go downhill, and then have to turn around and come right back up again.

Lots of uphill riding had got us really warmed up.

On a clear day, Mt. Baker would be in the distance.  That flat land is Sumas Prairie.  It used to be a lake.

It was pretty peaceful riding through this part.

The boardwalk.  The start of the last hill back up to the truck.

Just on the other side of that low part between the two hills in the distance is where the photo of the two of us was taken.

It was fun.  Hope we aren't suffering for it tomorrow.