Reconnecting

We all have great friends who, for whatever reasons, we can't see on a regular basis. My friend P and I went to college (university) together, studied in the same program, and have been friends ever since. Because she still lives in Canada, I don't get to see her very often. I have been home to see her several times, but this past weekend was her first trip here since I moved (12 years ago!).

While most of the focus of our time together was to reconnect (lots of life changes since our last visit), I also tok the opportunity to show her some of the local sites - by bike! It is important for you to know that P is NOT a cyclist - she's a runner. She was a trooper, though, and agreed to ride with me out to Concord on my full suspension mountain bike.

Our first challenge was in trying to put flat pedals on the bike - for whatever reason, I couldn't get the SPDs off. After several attempts, we gave up, she tried on my bike shoes, and we decided to go with clipless pedals which she had NEVER used before! We also had to lower the seat as far as we could (I'm about 6 inches taller), and I had to explain how to shift gears. Five minutes of instruction in the driveway, and we were off!

We headed out the rail trail extension to Concord and stopped at the Old North Bridge, downtown for some shopping and lunch, and came back via the Minuteman National Historic Park. Total ride was 20 miles and we had NO clipless pedal falls or other bike incidents! I was so proud of her.

On Saturday, P got up with us really early to head up to the Saco Crit, sitting in the heat and cheering both Mike and I on through our races. After we were done, we headed up to Portland for some lunch, shopping and sightseeing (including Fort Williams) - something Mike and I wouldn't have done without having company.

We had a great weekend together, and are looking forward to more visits in the near future, hopefully not 12 years from now!