Biker Girl

Today was the last "shorts day" of the season and my friend, Jayne, and I had planned on doing a hike after I got off work at noon.  But since my hubby and I had just hiked on Sunday, I asked Jayne if she would want to ride bikes instead.  Our city has a bike path that runs along the shoreline and I've been curious about it.  Here was my chance.

Now, Jayne rides bikes a lot--sometimes 60-70 miles in a day.  I was a little nervous about riding with her, since I've only ridden ~15 miles in the past eight years.  She reassured me that she would stick with me through thick and thin.  I decided to give it a go.

I dug my biking shorts out of storage and hoped they still fit.  (I've only worn them once and had forgotten about how thick the essential padding is.  It brought me back to my toddler days with diapers.)  Once I had the shorts properly adjusted, I got my bike down.  (My husband has a pulley system rigged up in the garage to hang the bikes from the ceiling. It was a bit of a trick to get it down--I had to call him for instructions.)  I pumped up the tires, got my Camelback filled with water, strapped on a helmet (thanks for loaning it to me, Jayne) and was ready to go.

A side note:  The whole helmet thing is new to me.  I never considered wearing one in the past, due to the fact that I didn't think I needed one and also, but more importantly, I don't look good in hats.  However, four years ago, our son was riding his bike at night and ran into a pole.  He flipped over the handlebars, hit his head and after a $5000 trip to the ER, ended up with 15 staples and 25 stitches in his scalp.  Helmets are necessary.

The aftermath of Dave's helmetless bike ride.  

His head was pretty much healed at this point.

Jayne and I rode about 4 miles to get to the trail.  It runs along Muskegon Lake, past downtown, and up to North Muskegon, where we turned around.  It was beautiful.  When we got back to where we started, we continued out to Lake Michigan.  (This part was the same route that I ran last week.)

 Muskegon Lake

One of the many houses along the lake.

I had no idea these condos existed.  

They can't be seen from the road.

 

The Muskegon River where it empties into Muskegon Lake.

This was the turn around point.

Note the towering Muskegon skyline in the distance.

The river flats. 

 One of the many marinas along the bike path.

Moi, riding across one of the cute bridges.

The opposite end of Muskegon Lake from where we turned around.

The channel that connects Muskegon Lake with Lake Michigan.

The Coast Guard station is at the end of the sidewalk.

All in all, we road around 42 kilometers (it sounds like so much further than 26 miles).  I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow, especially the area on my body that was touching the bike seat.  (It's the same area that was sore after giving birth to my three children--although they were definitely worth it.)  Whatever happened to cushy seats?  Thankfully, cold, rainy weather is moving in tomorrow, and I won't be riding a bike until next year.  I'm going to need that long to recover.