I emailed a friend last night to see whether she and her husband wanted to take a bikeride today with me. (This is part of my nefarious scheme to turn friends into friends who bike. ) Her husband is out of town until tonight, but she was willing. I started at one end of a bike trail and met her at the other, then we rode to where I'd started, had a chat at a picnic table there, and then back to where we'd met.

She bought his-and-her bikes as a surprise for her husband seven years ago; nice Treks, and they look brand new. They have hardly used them.... but I'm trying to change that!

We rode about 10 or 11 miles together, slow miles (and if *I* -- the slowest cyclist out there -- am saying we rode slowly....!) but fun. She'd never been on these trails before, and got a quick lesson on shifting to boot.

After we were back at her car, I rode around the nearby lake, then back eventually to my car. 24 miles for me today, through woods and along streams, over leaves and new blacktop on one part of the trail, yee-haw!

How was your ride? Please tell!