We took our bikes out to the Silver Comet Trail for a ride. We started at Trailhead 12, and went west 10 miles. There's an old railroad tunnel at Milemarker 31, and that's where we had lunch.
The trail is remarkable - clean, quiet, and very well maintained. It felt kind of odd to be just pedaling along, listening to the wind in the trees and hearing the occasional insect and bird.
Yeah, it was a bit of a grind. Neither Sue or I are in particularly good shape, so we took our time. The little guy was busy figuring out how the gears on his new (used) bike work, and had a blast. (Thanks, John C! A good cleaning, some gear lube, a new seat and some air in the tires and it was good to go.) About mile 16 or so my legs just kind of turned to rubber - had to walk a bit to recover and then the little guy and I did one final dash to the car. He beat me, but it was close!
20 miles on a bike. Damn. I still can't hardly believe we did it. And then I feel the sore spots... (Man, I've GOT to get a different seat! Ever have a certain, sensitive part of your anatomy fall asleep from unaccustomed pressure... and then WAKE UP again? Yaagh! Tingly!) and think... we did!
Update: Something I forgot to mention - there was what looked like a blackened area on one side of a cutout that the trail passes through. I stopped on the way back and took a look at it - the stuff was kind of blackish/gray, and felt kind of greasy to the touch. It left a mark on paper, looking an awful lot like a pencil mark. We figure it was most likely graphite, though it could be molybdenite. (The two are very similar.) I'm thinking it's graphite, though.
J.