Wildwood Park should be named "wild flower park":)

          Last Friday morning, knowing I had no plans that evening, I decided I would take a bike ride.  I'm sure that isn't on the top ten list of fun things to do on a Friday night, but for me it sounded like as good of an idea as any, because I hadn't been on my bike for a few days.  But I always like to have my safety net in case I talk myself out of it, so I I did my workout anyway...

     However, through out the day I thought of a million excuses to be a slug, it was hot, humid, I already worked out... and it was Friday... Friday is a good excuse for a lot of things... but none of my excuses were good enough to stop me from riding, so that afternoon "Terry" (My bike...) and I headed out to Wildwood Park, which is one of my safe rides when I'm by myself.

     There weren't a lot of other riders, and maybe a few walkers that late afternoon, but this was just perfect for me.  All of the Summer flowers were in full bloom by now and if I planned to take a million pictures, it was a heck of a lot easier without dodging other cyclists.  Honestly, the "real cyclists" were probably out on the University Parks Trail, but did they get to see all the flowers... nope!

     Most park names have special meaning; I would guess Wildwood is named because everywhere you look there's wood.

     I know all parks have trees, but it seems like this park has a tree grave yard as well, with dead trunks and branches laying everywhere.

     Then lets not forget the mile long bridge they took all last summer to build...

     Luckily the pavement was cement, but that definitely is a lot of wood... 

     And it seemed to go on forever...

                                    
       However, I wasn't there to see how much "wild wood" there was; I wanted to see the flowers, and there sure were a lot of them.

     For some strange reason my eyes are always drawn to the pink flowers... but I will admit I saw every color of the rainbow.

     I saw a huge clump of yellow daises...

                                       

And they were scattered all through out the trail...

          Then some sort of purple flowers were surrounding the Manor House...

     And I've seen these white flowers all over the place, but I couldn't tell you their name...

       While I was riding through the park I actually impressed myself, because I managed to take this picture of them setting up for a wedding; the impressive part was that I was  was riding down hill as I took it:)

     Confession time...

     This was the first try:)

         Of all of the times I've been to this park  I've passed this cute little sitting area many times, but never have I stopped; though I often think to myself "that sure looks like a quaint little place to just sit and visit" but never do I see people sitting...  I guess they must all be on a mission.

                     
                   

       My favorite thing about riding by myself is...no one can tell me I can't stop and smell the roses:)

Have a great day!!

Christine:)

My first big girl bike ride of the season!

     This past weekend was turning into the perfect weather for a bike ride, and my plan was to get out on Sunday afternoon with a few riding buddies.  I had already gotten my "sea legs"  with my two little "baby rides" over the past couple of weeks, so I needed to amp it up just a tad.

     Two of the riders were just getting back into riding again after years of sabbatical, and I knew this would give me a chance to slack a little on this ride.  If I managed to ride ten miles I would consider it a job well done.

     However, when Sunday came around the bike ride totally fell apart.  I guess sometimes the best laid plans get put on hold. I knew the days of seventy and sunny were few and far between, so I was a little bummed, but the day wasn't over.  Things always have a way of working out, and where there's a will there's a way...

     I managed to get a ride in after all.  I ended up riding with a new riding buddy I met, of all places, in the parking lot of Wildwood Park.  It was just the two of us (and about 14 thousand others) there.  Here I thought I was the only one who thought it was a good day for a ride...

          The park was so packed that cars were backed up waiting for others to leave so they could take their parking space.  Before long cars started lining the streets, even though there were signs that clearly stated parking was permitted in marked spaces only... oops!

     After being locked up indoors all winter it was as if the prison guards had opened the gates and the inmates just swarmed this park.  

     My original thought was to just take a couple laps around the park, but after dodging a million cars as well as pedestrians who had no idea how to share the roads with cyclists, the trail seemed like a much better idea.  Once again, about 14 thousand others had that same thought...

     People or no people, the day was beautiful so it was very hard to end my ride.  After completing the entire bike trail and riding back into the park I looked at my computer only to discover I had rode almost  fifteen and a half miles!  Not to mention I had another possible prospect for the Bike To The Bay:)

          I guess it's official now.  No more excuses about "phasing into riding" anymore.  And that was my first "big girl" bike ride of the season:)

Have a great day!!

Christine:)