I'm on a constant hunt to find new and exciting things to do with Michael these days. Not so much for him, but for me. I'm the kid always complaining that there's nothing to do.

So I got this idea the other day that I should take Michael biking out at this park with a lake nearby. I've never really spent much time there and they have a bunch of trails and it would probably be a lot of fun. Except that the trails are mountain bike trails, i.e. skill is required. And since I don't have much skill I thought I need to check this out before showing up with a toddler. Any chance this is toddler friendly?
So DH took the afternoon off so that I could go to my therapy appointment and I loaded up the bike and planned to ride after my appointment.

First I forgot how to get to the stupid park. Winning? Oh and I also forgot my helmet in my haste to get loaded up. Smart.

I got out there and burned out on the first real dip in the road. (In my defense, it was a probably one of the biggest dips that I encountered on the trail but I still shouldn't have gone down on it). I cut the back of my calve and jammed up my rear break. I should have taken this as a sign and turned around and left but I freed up the break and dusted myself off and kept going.

The trail was about 3.5 miles and I planned to take the first shortcut and leave but I missed the shortcut. Then I planned to take the second shortcut but I thought I'd missed it and further along than I was and went by it because I was worried that it was the connector to the next trail set. Then I got my chain stuck up in the front gear and had to stop and fix it. At this point I finally figured out where I was. I was not nearly as far along as I thought I was (for the record I only thought I was that far along because the landmark descriptors were vague). Note to self: Bring your compass next time. Note to self: Find your compass. Note to self: You are a terrible Girl Scout.

I got my chain fixed up and went along. I did successfully identify where my trail connected to the other trail and I made the right turn and stayed on my trail. If I had screwed that up, I'd of never gotten out of there.

Finally when I got to a part of the trail that was close to the road I decided to cut through the woods and get on the road and go back to my car. I wanted to keep going but I still had about a mile of trail left and I was getting tired and wanted to get home. But I really wanted to keep going! I didn't feel like too much of a quitter because I made it a lot farther than I would have if I'd found that first shortcut.

I was very happy when I made it out to the road and rode the smooth pavement back to my car with views of the lake off the the side. Nice leg, Crash.
I was hoping that even if I couldn't bike the trail with Michael maybe I could push the Chariot on it. It would have been doable until I got to the "boardwalk" which was a 1.5ft wide bridge over a 50ft long rough patch. So no, Michael will definitely not be seeing this trail anytime soon.

But the cool thing, even though I suck (hard), it was still a lot of fun. I want to do it again. I was afraid that I was going to fall and crack my head open the whole time and at one point I called my husband to make sure he knew which trail I was on so that I didn't have a "127 Hours" story go down (although it's a small area, so it'd be more like "127 Minutes").

So if we can get it together we are all going back out there tomorrow morning and going to try to push Michael on the nature trail, which should be reasonable. (But I'm also excited because the nature trail intersects with another mountain bike trail and I want to scope it out!)

I don't get a lot of time to myself these days. When I finally get a break from Michael I usually just go to Joann's. So I'm really happy that I found something else to do that was so satisfying and fun. I felt really happy tonight and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the cut on my leg :) Sorry you got sort-of-lost and hurt. Otherwise it looked like a beautiful spot and sounded like a fun thing to do. Hope next time goes better!

August 27, 2011 at 4:37 PM I give you credit for trying, I don't think I would've have even gotten the bike in the car. I hope your leg heals fast and doesn't hurt too much.

August 28, 2011 at 6:11 AM That looks like a lot of fun! Glad you got to get out and go on an adventure :).

August 28, 2011 at 5:35 PM It looks like a beautiful place to go! I love state parks and trails. We got bikes this year, and have yet to use them. I'm kinda scared. And K doesn't know how to ride yet without training wheels, so we can't really go easily at the moment.

And yes, the comment of feeding these kids is going to be scary. When K has a good, worry free day, he can out eat a grown man. I'm scared about the teenage years.

August 29, 2011 at 1:35 PM That sounds like quite an adventure! That is great that you did that on your own. I'm sorry about the crash and the cut on your leg, but it sounds like you had a great time despite that mishap.

I miss adventures like that. I used to do stuff like that all the time, but I rarely get more than an hour away from Birdie at a time and I never end up doing anything fun for me. I think that needs to change.

I also really admire how you find time to do your sewing projects. Do you do it while he naps? After bedtime? I haven't even unpacked my sewing machine after moving nearly 5 months ago.
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