Biking for a Cause

This morning I signed up to bike in Miracle Hill's Cycling Challenge. Miracle Hill is a local organization that helps the homeless and addicted in the Upstate of SC. Their goal is to reach people with the love of Christ. This is their 9th annual bike ride and I am so excited! This organization and others like it are the reasons I got in to human services and I am proud to support them. Please visit my fundraising page and donate to the ride. :)

Swamp Rabbit

I often find myself in situations that reflect a tv sitcom. The most recent incident occurred at work when, while trying to impress a co-worker, I said I was an avid bike rider. Now, although I enjoy bike riding I am most certainly not avid. After I made this claim the co-worker suggested that we go for a ride sometime and I smile and agree while thinking to myself, "CRAP!!"

So now I find myself trying to bike more often. In all reality I had wanted to start biking more anyways, this has just given me a boost. On Sunday I went and biked through the battlegrounds in Cowpens with my friend Mindy and the past two days I have gone downtown Greenville to the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

I am quite pleased with myself. On Monday I did 10 miles and today I did 12 miles. The trail is beautiful. Along the trail there are parks, the Greenville Zoo, Furman University, and even a cafe or two. Part of the trail even has a special lane for runners made out of rubber track material.

If you don't have a bike but want to go check out the trail I have found many places to rent bikes including: Reedy Rides, Pedal Chic, and you can even rent tandem bicycles at Tandem, Touring, and Recumbent Bikes.

Whether you are a biker, runner, and even just want to go for a walk I would recommend the Swamp Rabbit. It feels great to get out there and be active!

(I'm also looking for anyone to go riding with. It's way more fun with company!)

The Plan

After living in the Upper Valley for 21 years my best friend, Naomi, and I have decided to discover our surroundings. Every summer we dream of taking trips to the beach or some place other than here but this summer we will find fun activities that anyone can do close to home. Indeed, this effort may be a result of the economic down turn and, lets face it, we are poor college students, but either way we will have an adventure. Along our journey I will post links so you can create your own "Discover Local" initiative.

Courtesy of Hyperterm:

Here is a list a 100 things you must see, do, or experience in the Upper Valley. This list created the inspiration for our "Discover Local" summer. See how many you can check off in the next few months.

Our first event was in a little town called Quechee located about a half hour from home. Quechee is popularly known for Quechee Gorge but this past weekend we discovered more to love about this small town. The Quechee Balloon Festival was in town. This, like any other small town fair, was complete with greasy food, live music, and craft tents. What made this fair special was the hot air balloons. The fair goes for three days and the balloons take off periodically throughtout the three days. Parking was $3 and addmission was $10 for adults. Not a bad price for a fun day of activities. My personal suggestions would be to get a henna tattoo and eat fried dough while listening to the live band before the balloons take off. If you are looking for something to do in June next year we would highly recommend this fun filled festival.

Another plan for our summer is to get healthy. This may have been forced on me from my fitness class but I am starting to like the idea more and more. Naomi and I have picked one day a week that we will get together to do some type of physical activity such as biking, hiking, or a work out video on the rainy days and after our exercise we will cook a healthy meal. So far we have done this once... today in fact. Hopefully, if her schedule permits, it will continue to be on Mondays. For our first outing we went for a bike ride on the bike path in Springfield, VT and then came home to make delicious chicken with peach salsa. I would also just like to note that today was my first bike ride since I was a little kid and that saying about never forgetting how to ride a bike is a lie. ;)

That's all for now folks. Look for the next post about our crazy adventures of the "Discover Local" summer.