Well the day started out with cool temps down into the 40's(wow this is winter in Florida)and bright sunshine with deep blue skies. After our quiet time Nancy and I had Cherrios with banana and blueberries. I know that sounds good and believe me it was but not the best choice for what we had in mind; mountain biking. We headed out from home around 10:30 and arrived at the New River Trail in Galax at 11:15. Nancy had on long pants, sweat shirt and a tee shirt underneath. Me, I had my usual shorts and Tee shirt. The temperature had risen to the middle 60's but was just absolutely beautiful.

 We headed out with just water bottles and pedalled hard for the first couple miles. We went through a 1100 foot tunnel with a bend which was kind of spooky as you had no idea if there was bear or whatever taking a nap or waiting to pounce on unsuspected bikers.Anyhow we did good for the first couple of miles as we got use to the bikes. We crossed a wooden trestle bridge over the New River. There were a couple of bikers stopped on the bridge admiring several large fish swimming about 50 feet below. We continued on and took the right turn towards Byllesby Dam. According to the park map it was about 3 miles up the river. We stopped a couple places to take pics and to take a water breaks. I had started to sweat even though in the shaded areas the temps were cool.

 Finally we reached the hydro electric plant that was built in 1913 and still produces electricity to the local area. We looked around and took a few pic before deciding we had better not go any further as we had to retrace our paths. I could feel the lack of calories we needed to continue pedaling at this steady pace. The roadway or path we were on was made of crushed cinders and small rocks with some areas of packed dirt. It was basically level to look at but required constant pedaling. I suddenly felt the need for something to eat. We made our first mistake by not bringing something to replenish the calories we were expending. Our thighs and legs were screaming at the constant pedaling. I never would have believed a 10 + mile bike ride could be so demanding. We both were never so glad to finally get back to the truck around 1:45. That was a good ride of 2 1/2 hours. Next time we will plan better with snacks or a big breakfast. The atmosphere was so  beautiful and we are looking forward to a ride on a different section of the trail. This trail meanders through the mountains for 58 miles. It was an old railroad track that followed the New River and serviced small towns in the area.

After leaving the trail we headed for Subway to replenish the carbs we had expended on this ride. Wow was that ever a good lunch. After getting our legs back I headed to Lowes to pick up a few things and Nancy did our weekly grocery shopping. I gased up before heading back to Wal-Mart to retrieve her and then we headed for a local barbershop to have my ears lowered. By the time we got back to the cabin it was going on 5 PM.

The day was just absolutely gorgeous. Nancy sauted a couple yellow squash along with some new potato's, sliced tomato's and salmon patties for dinner. Everything was home grown except the salmon. After supper I hand watered the gardens and some of the new grass thats been up just a couple days. Even though its cool at nights we could still use a little shower or two. Well will close for now. LATER