Riverside Park

Two rides...same trail. Sarah and I got out on a ride by ourselves last weekend. It was a lot of fun. Sarah completely surprised me with her abilities on the trail. We've only ridden with the kids on the roads before, so when I took her on trails where the grades were occasionally steep and where rocks are ready to bite, I wondered how she would do. I looked back to see how she was doing at first and she was right behind me following my path. Later when we came to the first hills and rocky sections I looked back to see she was still right behind me and keeping up very well.

Right after taking this picture...,
we headed down this hill (Caitin and I went the opposite direction on the trail this week).
Before heading down the hill, I told Sarah it was completely acceptable to walk down this part. I rode down to the first opening (where Caitin is standing in the next picture) and looked back up the hill to watch Sarah. She had decided to ride the hill, and was doing quite well until her front tire rolled over a boulder...which changed the center of gravity, and over the front she went! She expertly leaped forward, clearing the handlebars, and then allowed the bush to the right of the tree to catch her and slow her down. She immediately picked up the bike and began examining for any damage...

The results? A small scrape on her hand, an even smaller scrape on her forehead, a slight blemish on her ego, and a very proud husband! Caitin and I had to test the trailer out on the trail, and found that one place was just a little to skinny to roll through. The trail runs along the river bank, which was a little scary for me a couple of times, cuase the trailer was running with one wheel up hill and the other wheel right on the edge of the bank (with about a 20-foot slide down to the water). We rode it all with only one lift (over the skinny spot) and one walk (up Sarah's hill). Pretty successful, I'd say.