Helaine asked if she could join me on the trail today. She doesn’t bike, so we just drove there together and then I rode off. I said I’d meet her in a half hour.
I took a break from riding yesterday thinking it would be beneficial. As I began today, I realized it was not. My legs were still sore.
This time I started at Brooksvale Park. It’s a large, normally uncrowded, rural park. There’s a large meadow, where I’ve emceed lots of charity walks, along with ball fields, a small playground and what was a petting zoo.
Sometime while Stef was a toddler, word came down from the USDA: The animals needed to be isolated from the humans.
For each fence that penned the animals in, a second fence was erected. It’s crazy. These animals are now eligible for the MSNBC prison doc block! And with two sets of fences, the kids are far away. Any warm and fuzzy moment is lost.
We left the park, crossed the street and picked up the trail.
This part of the trail is a little more isolated. There are long stretches through wetlands with swiftly moving water on the west side.
Going north from Brooksvale, the trail is table flat. That’s no small accomplishment for a hilly state like Connecticut. After all, I entered the trail in a part of Hamden called Mount Carmel.
I’ve been trying to figure how biking compares with last years running. I just read an article that says, at 10 mph (around my speed) divide your distance by 4.2 to get a running equivalent. So, today’s 6+ miles turns into around 1.5 of running… without the pounding. Obviously, I need to do more.
This sign (above/left) was the most unexpected sight of today’s ride. I saw one swan deep in the marsh. She remains unmolested.