Lost in the woods

Yesterday was definitely fun.  Daniel and I decided to take our bikes and head to First Landing State Park on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach.  This park was one of the top reasons for buying bikes in the first place.  We hiked there about a year ago and have been planning to head back ever since.

I bought us new gel bike seat covers to make the ride more comfortable so we were definitely excited to try them out.  Little did we know how much comfort we would really need!

We started out really easy, just enjoying the scenery.  We traveled through forest, marsh, and a beach!

This was definitely more physical than the beach last week.  The boardwalk was flat and smooth, while the state park was gravel, then sand; as well as hills and valleys.

The Cape Henry trail is 6.1 miles.  We did 4 miles last week so we knew we could handle 2 more miles.  Of course, we weren't thinking about the terrain difference.   Even still, we knew it would be a great workout, especially with a nice morning breeze (we headed out on the trail around 9:30am).

After biking and sweating and trucking along, we see the 4 mile marker.  This is it!  We're in the home stretch!  We come out of the trail into 1 of 3 parking areas and head down a winding, concrete road toward the end.  We're laughing and talking about how this was the most difficult physical thing we've ever done.  How proud we are at accomplishing 6 miles.  And then we see it.   The trail opening that we left over 30 minutes prior.  We giggle nervously, but keep riding down the road. And then we see a gate that we've never seen before.  We ride through and see that we're on Atlantic Avenue!  We are facing the boardwalk that we road on last week!  We are miles from our car, exhausted, and now we have to double back and do it all over again.

We were not happy to say the least.  We decided to stop and fuel our bodies for another 5 miles (we didn't have to go back up the winding road since we saw the trail entrance 2/3rd of the way down).  I munched on a few almonds, while Daniel ate a banana.  I'm so glad I brought snacks with us!

The ride back was silent.  We didn't talk, laugh, joke, or anything we were doing before.  We just rode and rode and rode.  I almost wept with joy when I saw the 1 mile marker---I started shouting to Daniel--"did you see it?  Did you?  Only 1 mile to GO!!".  I dug deep, and peddled my heart out.  My legs were like jelly by the time we made it back to the car--3 hours after we set out.  6.1 miles turned in to an 11 mile adventure we won't soon forget! Keep in mind, before last weekend, I hadn't been on a bike in over a decade--my legs will probably hate me tomorrow.

Our early afternoon plans were abandoned.  Daniel was supposed to go to his religious service at 1pm and I was planning on walk/jogging around the neighborhood.  I jumped in the shower, and then jumped in bed with a book.  Daniel jumped on the couch with a video game.  A few hours later, we went to the movies with my father, brother and nephew to see Transformers 3.  It was a great movie and it was nice to spend time with my family.

My father, brother and I on my wedding day

Today we're taking it easy.  I've got a Groupon for Wild Wings in Chesapeake and a free redbox code.  We may even go watch fireworks tonight.  Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!