Paddle Report on Wheels

Yesterday was the first Lehigh River Whitewater release of the year. It was PACKED! We ended up parking in the furthermost lot. The group had a nice mix of old and new friends which totalled eight. Regulars were Rick, Tony Labato, Tim Garland, Jen Kulas and Barb Sears. I can't recall the new folks names. Chili opted out of the boat trip for fear of water-borne bacteria wedging its way into my fresh, new, not-healed grafted gums. But I really wanted to go along 'cause the Lehigh River Gorge is absolutely beautiful. So what to do for 4 hours while hubby boats? RIDE BIKE! At first I thought, yuk -- rail trail. But it turned out to be a steady, decent, semi-hard workout. I took Jake the Snake (cyclocross bike) and pumped up the pace to get my HR at the endurance rate for the 3-hour ride. No hills, no stops, no rocks, no logs, no obstacles -- oops, except for the rattlesnake I had to go back and get a 2nd look at. It was flat, long (45 miles total), with a sustained pace that was perfect - it reminded of the trainer (believe it or not, I LIKE the trainer because of the sustained workout). And the rail trail itself? Gorgeous. Not boring like the one at Dauphin. The Lehigh River runs parallel to the trail the entire length and because there was so much action on the river yesterday, I was entertained a good bit of my ride. Inexperienced, non-English-speaking rafters always bring a smile or two. And mom nature held out for a change and kept us dry. Rick had an equally awesome day -- he got 3 combat rolls! I'm so proud of him.