A Fun Day Before Valentine's Day!

Today was wonderful because Tobin got the same day off that I did! So we decided to go for a bike ride. Really we had no specific plan, but we also had no time schedule so it was great! We decided to go on this Bikeway that connects Medford to Ashland called The Bear Creek Greenway. For not having a plan it was a wonderful 29 mile ride! But now I'm suffering a sore bottom, and may be feeling a few new muscles tomorrow. But it was great! So about 2/3 of the way towards Ashland, we decided it would be fun to ride to Ashland, stop for lunch, and then ride back! So that's exactly what we did. We went to this yummy cafe called Ashland Bistro Cafe. Tobin had a Southwest Chicken Wrap with White Bean and Bacon Soup, and I had a Tuscan Panini with Minestrone soup. It was YUMMY!!! It may have been even more delightful because we had just riden 14 1/2 miles. On our way to Ashland part of the trail is still in construction so to try and get around it we "off roaded" with our mountain bikes, and my toes got wet! But I was able to dry them out with the hand blow dryer in the Cafe's restroom. Thanks! I usually hate those blow dry things, but today I LOVED IT!!!!

So with warm toes, we headed out back into the crisp, cold sunny air. I think it was probably tops 38-40 degrees. But sunny! We stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to get a delicious Caramelled Apple, so we'd have a treat when we got home! Then it was back the 14 1/2 miles. We negleted to realize that on our way South to Ashland the wind was in our favor. So on the way back we toughed out the wind with our burning quads. Tobin especially was struggling when we first started, his quads were killing him, but as always in the end...he was pushing me to keep going faster!

Doesn't this sound like fun??? Well it was!!! On our way back we "off-roaded" again, this time coming upon a little bit bigger "puddle." You can see we got quite wet again!

We made it back safe and sound, and have successfully thawed out our frozen toes from the "wet encounter." But it was fun to intermix suburb "cruising" with real "mountain biking!" Though, I think Tobin and agree that maybe next time we would prefer to do it with road bikes, but until that time we'll be the mountain bikers enjoying the road. =)

However, we unfortunately won't be going out again till we fix Tobin's flat tires. Yes, when we got back to the car we realized that somehow Tobin had riden through the brier patch and somehow I avoided it. We pulled out 9 sticker in one tire and 4-5 in the other....so a little bit more than we'd like to patch. Oh well, our spirits aren't dampered, we had a great Valentine's Day fun together!

Here's a map of the trail. It kind of follow's I-5. Are you ready to come join us?