We spent Memorial Day Weekend in Fayetteville, WV with our good friends Angela and Joe. The four of us have spent many weekends there over the years. Angela and I were first introduced when Joe and Steve met through mutual kayaking friends. I swear when I met her I saw a halo....she was the only other woman I'd met in WV who wasn't already an amazing boater. Thus...my social savior for company on the riverbank while all the others cruised through Class V rapids in their kayaks. Since our meeting 10 years ago, we've become close friends and have supported each other as we've tried our hands at kayaking, rafting, snowboarding, mountain biking, and motherhood. I doubt we'll ever share quite the passion for adventure sports that our husbands do...but we've come a long way.
For the long weekend, Angela and I had planned an girls evening mountain bike ride upon our arrival at their house Friday night. One little problem - on the way to WV my mountain bike flew off the roof of the truck. After another driver alerted us, we turned around and saw my little red Tassajara in a mangled heap of metal on the side of the road. I think that's the first piece of equipment Steve has ever lost which is fairly amazing given the frequency of his equipment roof mounts. Needless to say - I was a little bummed. Not nearly as bummed as Steve, though, who immediately called the owner of the bike store in Fayetteville and told him we were on our way and would be buying a new one that evening. Don't know if it was guilt or Steve's secret desire for me to get much better on the bike, but by evening's end I was the proud new owner of a spiffy Gary Fisher HiFi. WAY more bike than I need, but boy is it comfy! Angela and I still got a little ride in that evening and then another longer one later that weekend. I'll have to say that my new full-suspension bike is quite a bulldozer....now if I can just get my lungs to keep up!
Of course, times have definitely changed and instead of 4 there are now 8. We take turns watching the kids so the 4 originals can still get out and play together. But now this year the kids are old enough so we can actually start taking them along on some of our tamer adventures. It's amazing to watch how life changes. It's not the same kind of fun we used to have...but it's equally as fun - just in a new way.
For the long weekend, Angela and I had planned an girls evening mountain bike ride upon our arrival at their house Friday night. One little problem - on the way to WV my mountain bike flew off the roof of the truck. After another driver alerted us, we turned around and saw my little red Tassajara in a mangled heap of metal on the side of the road. I think that's the first piece of equipment Steve has ever lost which is fairly amazing given the frequency of his equipment roof mounts. Needless to say - I was a little bummed. Not nearly as bummed as Steve, though, who immediately called the owner of the bike store in Fayetteville and told him we were on our way and would be buying a new one that evening. Don't know if it was guilt or Steve's secret desire for me to get much better on the bike, but by evening's end I was the proud new owner of a spiffy Gary Fisher HiFi. WAY more bike than I need, but boy is it comfy! Angela and I still got a little ride in that evening and then another longer one later that weekend. I'll have to say that my new full-suspension bike is quite a bulldozer....now if I can just get my lungs to keep up!
Of course, times have definitely changed and instead of 4 there are now 8. We take turns watching the kids so the 4 originals can still get out and play together. But now this year the kids are old enough so we can actually start taking them along on some of our tamer adventures. It's amazing to watch how life changes. It's not the same kind of fun we used to have...but it's equally as fun - just in a new way.
We don't have pictures of our mountain bike rides, but we did take the camera along on the 8 mile rails-to-trails ride we did with the kids.
Angela and me on the trail!
The whole crew (minus Steve, the photographer).
This was Grayson's first trail ride without training wheels. That poor little bike was never meant to be ridden without training wheels, much less on a gravel path. But it held together. Grayson made it about 2 miles total which I thought was pretty impressive for a 3 year old. He loved riding over the roots and gravel and up onto the bridges. He only made me nervous when he would get near the edge where, in some places, there was a significant and steep drop down the side of the mountain. But I was a good Mama and just held my breath and followed along close behind.
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