Old wheels, new wheels

It's time. Nearly one year has passed. I decided that it was time to ask Theo to haul this out of the basement. I knew it was mashed somewhat, but it was much less than I had imagined. The rear tire was what took most of the collision, and the down tube was kinked. You can't see much of my helmet, it has a bit of blood on it, no major cracks and just a few dents in the interior foam. The seat, which I had only just purchased in July, looks untouched, the front tire still has air in it. It was a nice bike. I plan on sending this picture to the manufacturer and thanking them for designing a helmet to meet such high standards. Standards that allowed it to save my brain.

We took my new wheels on the Bruce Trail yesterday. It was a good test to see what they were capable of; and it was a hard lesson. Trail biking was my favourite kind of biking. Ever since I was a teenager I loved it - I was never as hardcore as my brother, but it was the only thing I ever skipped school to do. Getting out on the trail yesterday and feeling that every root, rock and slope was a serious obstacle and not just some fun bit of the trail, well that was tough.

The other hard part was not being able to go with Theo and the kids as they explored the falls. This was as far as I could go. I felt a little like a girl in a fairy tale waiting to escape from the tower where she was being held hostage...

I am hoping that my mountain trike will arrive soon and I will be able to get a little bit farther and a lot faster on a trail. I felt very ill-equipped in my Tilite, especially when the guy on the mountain bike passed me saying that the trail got quite rough up ahead - as though I would not be able to recognize the potential hazard I would face should I continue. I supposed he was just trying to be helpful, but the mountain biker in me could not help but feel insulted.

In the end though, we had a good day. How I have missed being in the woods. We'll be making regular trips to Owen Sound to see a specialist there, so we'll have plenty of opportunities to keep trekking the Bruce to see how far we can get.