Nice to be back in this territory, even if I know it's probably from being sick all day yesterday! I'm still not feeling great today, but I'm trying to eat since I was getting shaky by the end of the day yesterday.
Claire was doing some homework last night about the C&O canal and now she's decided she wants to ride the canal. Not sure if she means "hey, let's go down to Great Falls and ride around a bit" or "hey, let's take a week and some camping gear and go the whole 185 miles." Either one sounds good to me. Probably will start with Option A to see how she does and how my bike does (nice touring bike, not exactly designed for the surface of the trail, though) and then move on to Option B maybe next summer. A leisurely pace on the C&O has you finishing up the trail in five or six days, so I could see doing it with an 11 or 12 year old in that time or maybe a bit more. How fun would that be? And I can't imagine a better trail partner than Claire. I generally like riding alone, and Claire is quiet enough that you're pretty much left alone except for when you want company. She's whiny when faced with minor discomfort (bedtime) but good with major discomfort (getting wet, dirty, and having to pee in the woods). Minor discomfort is an imposition. Major discomfort is an adventure.
3 comments:
Sounds like fun to me! We're right by the ocean highway here and there are bike lanes and bike warning signs all along it, so I'm jonesing for a bike. You should definitely do a trip like that with Claire.
I have found myself wondering if the kids would be up to the level of the bike-around-VA type of tour. Alexander is really great to have along on a bike ride, too -- he can keep up (even though his bike was smaller by far than the rest of ours, he could keep up with Mary) and seems to have a good sense of direction. Mary's a good rider but not so good at knowing where to go -- though she's better in a downpour than Alexander, who likes things to be a little more predictable.
Oh, I just looked up the Bike Virginia website, and children under 12 (!!) can't ride solo bikes -- they have to be in a trailer or on a tandem. Stupid. Oh, well!
I can't imagine doing Bike Virginia with someone younger than 12 anyway, and then only if she/he is a really strong cyclist. That tour has daily distances of 50 miles and more, and often in really hilly areas! On the C&O it's all flat and there are campgrounds like every five miles or so, so it's easily doable with a kid I think.
I think the C&O trip sounds awesome - if only it was on mopeds. LOL! Claire has been camping since she was a bun in the oven, even if it was mostly Pennsic camping - that still is pretty close to the same thing - I am sure she would love a trip like that.
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