Week one with the new Bacchetta:

She is loved! I opted for a SWB so I can fit it into the back of my Sienna and so I can do some "off-roading".... Landed at Bull Point, overlooking Skull Creek on Hilton Head Island. I am sitting here watching shrimp boats and dolphins;). Welcome to biking in the Lowcountry!




 

I feel like I should give her a name :D

We had a fabulous weekend in Florida!

After missing my parents who were unable to be in Florida for the last 1.5 years, they are back!  And we are SO beyond grateful.  We had a fabulous weekend together!


grandma and her girls and noodles, headed for day one of pool time!

then grandma and the girls took off, and J and I had the entire pool area to ourselves


it was like a second-honeymoon....well, except there were no palm trees in Alaska, from what I can recall;)


then the next day, grandma, grandpa, and the girls went pool-hopping:

pool #1

pool #2

pool#3

and while the girls were pool hopping, J and I took a road trip to Inverness to test recumbents on the Withlacoochee State trail.  A bob cat literally crossed about 5 feet in front of us, stopped on the trail, looked at us, and moved on.  (I'm wondering if he thought our bikes looked funny;)


and this bike, the Bacchetta 20, was the winner!

she came home with us;)

here's another recumbent shop that we stopped at; I thought this mural was VERY cool;)

and this morning, we stopped at our beloved Yalaha Bakery

YUM!

reminiscing the good ole days, when we used to bike the glacial-drumlin trail with our beloved Buddy

Scrap Page: Hilton Head Biking

Hit The Trails in Hilton Head

We were thrilled to find out we were relocating to South Carolina----summer here will be our "tough" months--tough being, hot and humid.  I looked up the average temperatures here:

Table view of average temperatures by month

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
Min	39.3	41.6	48.4	54.8	63.4	70.3	74.1	73.2	68.8	57.4	48.7	41.7	56.8
Average	48.9	51.8	58.6	65.3	73.2	79.2	82.6	81.2	76.8	67.0	58.8	51.3	66.2
Max	58.4	61.9	68.7	75.7	82.9	88.0	91.1	89.2	84.8	76.6	68.9	60.9	75.6

 Our average ANNUAL temperature is 66.2 degrees!!  The normal high is rarely above 90 degrees during the summer; but I'm getting that this summer was an exceptionally hot summer!  And it was--it has been in the mid to upper 90s since the day we arrived.  It's finally cooling down to low 90s upper 80s during the day--and we do have wonderful breezes off the coast all the time!  You will NEVER see me complain about the heat--in fact, I did not complain about the cold in Wisconsin winters--although I was not a big fan of the snow cleanup; what I did complain about was how gray and colorless it would become for months on end!  Just for kicks, I looked up the average temperature of the coldest month here--January--take a guess!!!  48.9 degrees, the lowest being 39.3.!!!!  I can handle that!!!  Now, just for further kicks--I looked up the average temperatures from where I've spent the last 41 years.  The average annual is 48.2 degrees.  January average: 19.5 degrees; minimum temp in January 11.4 degrees---I have to disagree--I can't tell  you how often I've seen it well below zero--not including windshield! 

So, my point here is (yes, there is a point)---I won't miss winter!  Not even one bit!  AND---we can bike ride almost year round if we care to.  However, what I will miss will be the beautiful rail trails of Wisconsin--the very first rail to trail was developed in Elroy-Spart, WI.  Guess how many rail trails we have in South Carolina---ZERO!   There are almost NO off road bike paths here.  That is very disheartening, considering our hobby!  But I did realize Hilton Head has 50 miles of multi use paved trails.  So we tried it out last night (since it's the off season and a lot less crowded); and although it's not the same as the peacefulness of a rail trail, it works, and is better than none.  We road our bike to a restaurant (pictured above, with another photo showing our bike train next to the tiki lights:)  But, we got a late start heading down yesterday, and darkness was coming quickly---so we thought it best to go find our jeep (forgot to charge our headlamp).  J was VERY worried about the ride--however, the Divine quickly took care of his concerns, for we turned onto a bridge when I heard a LOUD CRACK---like a firecracker.  J asked what that was, I wasn't sure, but I said to stop incase it was a tire--and sure enough it was:)  Problem solved:D

So this next photo is just a pretty photo of a church as I enjoyed a long solitary walk back to collect the jeep--so peaceful:)

 

Just a Closer Walk with Thee:D

Piper and I had a nice walk on our local rail trail yesterday---we saw lots of beautiful birdies and enjoyed the symphony of the bull frogs! I LOVE the green marshlands, which is just loaded with wildlife, much of which we can't even see!!

Let's Go for a Bike Ride!

It's a BEAUTIFUL breezy 81 degrees today---we hit the books and then we hit the trails!! This is our second trip to the trails--last time we went, a nice day in March, it was low 70's, but the snow was melting and the trails were muddy, and of course the trees were still dormant--so we wound up leaving the trail for a paved road-side path. Also, last time we hit the trail, my four year old Fairy girl was still using training wheels--and now she's zipping around like she's never had them!! So--today we tested her new skills on the crushed gravel---the only spill she took was in the parking lot, where it's not so crushed, but rather chunky and slippery. The trees of course are now beautifully in bloom--the sun went down, and the skies turned cloudy, just in time for their ride (I walked; I have a very hard time riding in slow motion--though they aren't all that slow anymore:)---the winds really picked up, which sounded really cool, as it was howling too! And there were lots of birds and bugs and tree frogs---LOVE the sounds and breezes of summer!!

First Time......

Without training wheels!!!!!! Age 4.5!!!!

Happy Trails to Us

The last of the ice (I hope!)

Spring has arrived (in my book, though it's technically still winter). We had a nice 66 degree day yesterday--so what better way to celebrate than to hit the bike trails!! Well, that didn't last too long because there were a lot of muddy patches (I mean a foot of snow just melted days ago, afterall)--so, we rode onto plan B--and went to the paved path along the road (that goes into the trail)---it was wonderful and the sun felt wonderful!! We plan on doing the very same thing this afternoon, and tomorrow if weather still permits! (because I heard we're predicted to have snow again this weekend-snff snff :( Welcome to WI--80 degrees one day, a blizzard the next:)