“Do you think you can ride your bike without jumping off a curbs and just keep two wheels on the ground?” My physical therapist had just met me, but already knew me too well. This was her response when I asked if I could start riding my bike to work again. Even if I kept my medical boot on, she was concerned I could put too much pressure on my Achilles when climbing uphill, among other things. So I waited a month, and found a relatively flat ride before I did anything over 7 miles.
It was a rare sunny day in October, when Libbe, Jaime, Sarah Elizabeth B with brown hair and I hopped on our bikes in search of the famed winery on Lummi Island. We got to the ferry dock just as the ferry was pulling in, and just in time for a snickers snack. The ferry crossing was beautiful! We had great views of Baker, the Twin Sisters, and the Canadian Coastal Mountains, and only got a few comments on riding a bike with a medical boot on.
After completing a wine tasting and disengaging in a less than welcomed conversation with a local old man, we bought a bottle of the Syrah. The old man said they could open it for us, because it was going to be too difficult to open it with my swiss army knife. Well, that’s one sure way to get me mad, and to ensure that I will do the one thing you told me I probably wouldn’t be able to do.
We split the bottle between the four of us at a beach just down the road. Jaime almost lost her life by trying to retrieve an apple while standing on a less than adequate handrail (#deathbyfallingjaime). After hanging out for a while and finishing most of the snacks, we packed up and started back towards the ferry. On the way, we had to climb Mount Kill-your-buzz. It wasn’t until we could see Bellingham across the bay and the light was starting to dwindle that I started to think I may have taken on a little too big of an adventure for one of my first times back on a bike. Thankfully by that time, there was only about 15 miles left, and it was mostly flat.
Enjoying wine, on the beach, shortly before Mount Kill-your-buzz.
Photo cred: Jaime
for my friends who are moms 