September 1st - A Different View

I decided rather than biking today, I would walk our scenic lakeside walkway of 3 miles. My husband was delighted to have me join him as he walks everyday. As we were approaching the park area, I mentioned that I had to retie my shoe. We stopped at a sitting area and noticed that a seaplane was landing on the lake. It looked like it was coming towards the dock nearest us. John thought it looked like our neighbor and went onto the dock to check. Not wanting to waste energy, I waited on the sidewalk. It was our neighbor, Dan, so I went down to the dock. He had decided as an early birthday present that this was the perfect day for me to go for a ride. Boy was I set up or what, as John had planned this surprise several months earlier. But I was delighted at the opportunity. After a brief safety lesson we were skimming across the water and up into the air. It was great to see our house, town and area from the air. Dan flew me over the areas that I bike everyday and we even checked out the heart break hill of Sugarloaf Mtn. It looked so easy from the air and all those hills I struggle up and down looked like little bumps. I must say though that Dan was impressed at how far I bike each day. What a wonderful surprise.

When I got home there was a message from Martina (Sunday's biker). She managed to suffer over 40 miles of our hills and realized that she need to ride this area more to get in condition. She lives in the flat Tampa area. Martina has Sundays and Mondays off work and asked if I would like to ride around our hills with her on Mondays. This is great because now I will have company to inspire me as I ride my countryside.

A very unexpected day!