Monday, August 4, 2008

Monday Memory- Bikes

I’m not sure when I first rode a bike by myself nor even the color of the bike (gold? black? blue? red?), but I do remember how much freedom it gave me. I could ride faster than Janet, my sister, could run (I wasn’t always neighborly) and didn’t have to walk to the barn or the corrals to deliver a message for my mom.


Saturday I felt the freedom anew. We had the funnest family outing. We rode the Hiawatha bike trail which is 15 miles of an old railroad grade through the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho and Montana.

The path winds through ten tunnels (one is almost 2 miles long) and over

7 trestles. The best part? It has a 2% slope which means DOWNHILL the whole way.

This is the best action shot I got. The road was rough and I was peddling and trying to control the handlebars and trying to focus the camera and trying to eat jerky and enjoy the view. The day was too great not to cram it clear full.

It was fun watching Abe and Calvin feed the chipmunks.

Abe trained his squirrels to climb the bike spokes and beg.

Cali and Ande requested I not post close-ups of them in their helmets, but Calvin never said I couldn't . . .

This bus kept us from peddling up hill. We loaded our bikes and shuttled back to the top of the mountain to our vehicles.

We had taken trail mix, jerky and fruit leather for the trail, but later in the day we stopped along the Coeur d' Lane River and ate a picnic.

and then went to Cabella's for a piece of fudge. I got the kind that is so good it defies a name (at least it never has a tag)—chocolate, coconut, chocolate.

What a great, great day for a memory.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

This looks like so much fun! I'm glad you are still making these memories with your kids - they will love it forever, and pass it on to theirs, and to theirs, and to theirs. Priceless.

Anonymous said...

That sounds like the funnest day!

Amanda said...

I so hope to do things like this as a family when my kids are older. For now we do it in our neighborhood, which makes me heart just swell with love, but I hope that my kids will still want to be with me when they're older.

Becky said...

What great memories, great photos, great everything! :)

Cathy said...

Aunt Jane I absolutely LOVE going on bikerides! It is my form of therapy.....just feeling the wind in your hair, the sounds of nature, and the moments to think to yourself and just have some form of sanity......PRICELESS! I wish I lived somewhere where I could be biking right now, but instead have to wait till the pavement doesn't melt your tires like it would now. I am sooo jealous of you and the family for going on a bikeride without me! Do it again soon and post more pics and memories.
P.S. I would kill to see some pics of the kids close-up in their bike helmets! Just a couple for the sake of laughs!

Barb said...

That is a great ride, one for a family not just the die-hard bikers in the family.