Significant Tenth Anniversary Bike Ride

Today Brian and I celebrated (at least the first part) of our 10th wedding anniversary! We decided that, in celebration, we would take a romantic day-long bike ride to bike the open half of the American Tobacco Trail in Durham. It's a seven mile trail (14 miles up and back) that runs from Soutpointe to "The American Tobacco Campus" in Downtown Durham. It is part of the government "Rails to Trails" program that turns old, abandoned railways into beautiful bike paths. This particular trail spans the 20 mile railroad route from the tobacco farms in central Chatham County (the Chatham County part is still a bit rugged with rivers you have to ford & stuff, so we did the finished Durham route) to the "Lucky Strike" American Tobacco plant in Downtown Durham which has since been turned into a beautiful downtown area. Lots of living history involved!!! [There's a lot more & even a two-minute documentary at http://www.americantobaccocampus.com/atc-history.html if you want to further explore.] So, . . . after a very relaxing Mass this morning and a yummy breakfast at Mamma Dips (the girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa), we were off!

The trail was SOOOO much greener than I expected as we biked throughout Durham!!! There were awesome vistas of kudzu covered forests!!!

Most of the trail looked just like this, with a beautiful shaded tree canopy which kept the trail about 15 degrees cooler than the 85 degree "hot day" that surrounded it. A few things that surprised me: 1. the definite bike-rider etiquette of riding single file when someone approaches 2. the need for a rear view mirror (on a bike!?!) as well as other accouterments like a comfortable seat, correctly adjusted handlebars, water bottles, etc. 3. the natural feel of the Durham trail and 4. how EASY this 14 miles was!!! (I think I was just used to the really difficult terrain in our neighborhood.) I didn't feel winded at all and didn't feel like I even needed any of the water that we brought!!!

The trail ends at the American Tobacco Historic District which is just SO beautiful, . . . and housed in the exact same buildings that held the original tobacco processing plant. Lots of great shops and restaurants!

Okay, so they forgot the extra "e," but I thought it was fun and significant that one of the buildings on our anniversary trip was called the "Noell Building"! Ha!

Obviously, one of the restaurants in the Historic District is the Mellow Mushroom. ; )
Durham, of course, is the home of the Durham Bulls. Here is a photo op in front of a very appropriate Durham Bulls bike rack! ; )

Here is the actual train station that marked the end of the trail. You can still see the thin conveyor that brought the fresh tobacco leaves up to the plant.

Now, why was this bike ride so significant? Well, we had been considering for a long time making biking a family sport, . . . and we knew this trek was going to be a REAL test!!! And, guess what, as a result, . . . biking is now the official Family Sport!!! We plan to take Annie and Leia all around the country on these Rails to Trails sponsored rides! What a GREAT way to see the country! We'll be using bike seats and pathfinders for quite a while, of course, but these trails are grades so very nicely (a heck of a lot better than our neighborhood) that riding seems easy! We are VERY excited to make biking a very special and prominent part of our lives together!!!
When we got home, Leia Rose said, "You're celebrating your anniversary today?!? I want to give you a present!!!" So she gave us her most coveted sparkley, strawberry lip gloss! So very sweet!