Technically, this isn't my first ride of the season because I biked to work a few weeks ago, but that's only a few miles so it hardly counts. This afternoon's ride was 16 miles, which is a good starting ride(I usually get up to 30 miles a ride as Autumn approaches).There's a lot of great bike paths where we live (the Illinois Prairie Path), and they all connect up into probably well over a 100 miles of paths. Much of the IPP is wooded and not interrupted by roads much. So you feel very much that you're in nature. It's refreshing to be outside like that for a few hours, and there's often wildlife to see (on this ride Jim and I saw two deer!).
The best part of this ride was what I call 'the Cathedral'. It's a section of one path that is lined by slender trees that rise up about 50 or 60 feet, with their branches meeting above. The angular shape reminds me of the ribbed inside of a cathedral, so it's like this pagan hall of worship. It was getting dusky, and there were all sorts of black and silver greens and a wonderful sense of quiet there. Easy to forget about anything that's bugging you.
Only potential problem is that, after my Hapkido class on Wednesday, my hamstrings were aching a bit and I plan to go for my second class tomorrow. I'm hoping I'm not going to regret this ride!
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