Next Time We’ll Also Bike TO the Trail!
On Saturday Becky and I moved forward boldly on our bike-riding initiative. We went out to Easthampton to ride the Manhan Rail Trail.
The Rails-to-Trails program takes abandoned railway lines and repurposes them to biking and walking trails. It’s a great idea, and it’s sad that the residents of Springfield are too stupid to realize how good having one or two would be for the city.
This particular trail is four miles long. It’s well-paved and there are a lot of shady parts. The scenery is great, with a nice view of the Oxbow and Mt. Tom. It does cross some streets, but the drivers were all pretty courteous and respectful of the crossing. We saw a lot of folks out on the trail: families, older couples, joggers, a dad with a stroller, and a fellow walking along listening to his mp3 player and playing air guitar. We started in the middle, went to one end, then went to the other end, then back to the middle, for a total of eight miles. That’s three more than our usual afternoon five!
More importantly, eight miles didn’t really bother us much at all. We weren’t tired, we weren’t hurting, and we didn’t nap afterwards. That’s a pretty big deal for us. Granted, the trail is relatively level, but even so, it definitely shows some progress on our part.
We’re now looking to hit some of the other nearby rail trails.
BONUS! My spell checker doesn’t think too much of Easthampton, I guess:
If one were to zoom in to the second picture by a power of 1000 or so, one *might* be able to see the improved muscle definition and increased muscle tone of Mrs. Mancer’s stems.
And to second Mr. Mancer, exercise that is not followed by a nap is a HUGE step forward for us.
Comment by Mrs. Mancer — July 16, 2007 @ 11:01 am
I am envious. Love to bike ride, and even when I could see enough to do so, we don’t have such neat trails. Though I can’t complain about riding in the peaceful cornfields. There’s a beatiful serenity there, unless the wind is coming out of the east and you get that rare local sewage processing plant smell to the south of town unexpectedly. Kinda dampens the mood. But regugitated train trails=awesome.
Comment by CounterProductive — July 16, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Brian, you and Ruthie should get a tandem! She can steer, you can help pedal, and you still get to enjoy the fresh air and exercise and etc!
Comment by Dave — July 16, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
be careful… it is very likely that you might run into Mr. Parnell on that trail on any given day.
Comment by pronoblem — July 16, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
That’s fine as long as he’s dressed.
Comment by Dave — July 16, 2007 @ 2:33 pm
Perhaps the spellchecker knows something we don’t know. Perhaps… one of the CIA’s off-the-books prisons is in Easthampton?
Comment by Ken Lowery — July 17, 2007 @ 8:59 am
Dave, a fine idea that Ruthie has suggested already, but the idea of not being in control on a bike just scares the crap out of me, especially given my girthyness. Not a control freak, but in bike riding, you bet. I’ll never say never, but man, tandem ring just scares me.
Comment by CounterProductive — July 17, 2007 @ 9:23 am
Oooh.. I just got my bike fixed up and did the rail trail that goes between northampton and belchertown a couple of weeks ago. It’s a really nice trail to go on and while it’s a bit longer (I think it’s around 9 miles each way), lots of nice scenery, go over a river on a bride, etc. Just get off of exit 19 (going north on 91) and go straight and you’re right at the start.
I’ll have to give the easthampton one a shot, though.. Another nice trail that I haven’t been to in years is in Robinson State Park…
Comment by Shawn Fumo — July 22, 2007 @ 1:43 am