We all woke up quite early than we normally did on a Saturday because we planned on hitting the road just after 9am. I got up earlier and checked all the bikes, particularly the tire pressures. I readied the water bottles as well, and made coffee, too. After all the rituals -- coffee, light breakfast, getting dressed, etc, etc, etc -- we were all set to go.
I pulled the car out of the garage, parked it, and mounted the bike rack. That was when trouble started. For almost 45 minutes, I couldn't figure out how to mount all 3 bikes on a rack that was suppose to handle -- 3 bikes. It just didn't fit no matter what I did. I had mounted and dismounted, and arranged and rearranged the bikes, to no avail. I was frustrated and irritated. The sun was getting hotter, I was sweating, and we haven't even left the house.
The bike rack, like all other bike racks, was designed to carry a bike with a top tube (horizontal bar on the top of the bike frame) that is horizontal. Anything less than horizontal would cause a problem because the alignment of the handle bars of one bike and the wheels of the next bike will interfere and will not fit. This is why the manufacturer suggests to mount the bikes oppositely so the handle bar and wheels align. So, if you mount a non-horizontal top tube on the rack (the top tube slopes down from the stem to the seat tube), the rear tire gets elevated and interferes with the handle bar of the other bike. The only solution is to use a bike frame adapter bar that is mounted around the stem (beneath the handle bar) on one end and the seat post (underneath the saddle) on the other, to simulate a horizontal top tube.
After all the wrangling and hair-pulling, I decided to mount the 2 bikes on the rack, utilizing the innermost and outermost spots, while I dismantled my bike and tucked the frame in the trunk and both wheels at the back seat. Only then were we able to leave. Whew!!!Once at the trail, getting the bikes off and assembling mine was fast. Within a few minutes, we were rolling. It was my wife's first ride on the trail. Although it was mostly flat, the only warning we gave where the dips under the roads and bridges, especially the first one, as the road curves. Quite tricky. Even I got scared. But the rest was easy. We rode at different paces. My son dashed off and couldn't be held back. He just had a lot of energy and stamina that I couldn't match. He really enjoyed the ride that he often forgot to stop at designated rest points along the trail. I had to do catch up to make sure he did as he was told. Meantime, my wife would go on her regular, consistent pace that worked for her. And she did just fine.
After 11+ miles and the end of the trail, we took a brief stop to rest, stretch, and have a few sips of water. We were half way, but we started to get hungry. So we needed to get back as quickly as we could. We agreed to only have one stop, at 6 miles out. Then, it was the final stretch back to the parking lot.
As expected, my son pulled away, and I had to catch up, leaving my wife at her comfortable pace. She didn't really lag behind, but she was steady. After a brief stop at mile 6, we got back to the car in under an hour -- faster that when we started out. I guess hunger was a good motivation.
Loading the bikes was much faster. We were out of there after about 15 minutes. We dropped off the bike, changed clothes, and headed out to lunch -- a very well deserved lunch. It was almost 2:45pm. By the time we got back to the house, it was about 4pm. My son was singing at the 5:30pm mass, but I was so tired to even get up from my lounging chair. I stayed behind while both wife and son heard mass.
It was a good ride. Better than my first one. My wife liked it, and my son just loved it. He had a blast. My wife's main complaints were a sore butt and a sunburn. I already had them even before the ride.
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