I found myself in Halifax yesterday with a couple of hours to kill.  I was strolling around downtown, looking at people and architecture, when I noticed a bike shop on Barrington Street.  A sign on the window said, "Bikes for Rent."  I couldn't resist.  I had two hours before I had to leave so I asked what the price would be for a two hour rental.  The guy running the shop was surprised that someone was renting a bike in December.  He told me it would be $15.  For me, it was the perfect price. 

I had the great opportunity to attend the Can Bike 2 course this weekend.  I would highly recommend this course to every cyclist - beginner or experienced.  The course really helps to improve your skills in riding with traffic, dealing with emergencies and being more defensive and confident.  In fact, I think that anyone who rides a bike should be required to take this course by law.  We have to take drivers courses to operate motor vehicles.  Why not require a course for cyclists too?  There are so many unsafe cyclists out there.  Not only do these cyclists make the roads and sidewalks less safe for everyone - pedestrians, cyclists and motorists - but they also give a bad name to all cyclists.  Every time you ride your bike properly, share the road and use your hand signals, you are being a positive ambassador for cycling.  When you do the opposite, you only serve to infuriate others into disliking all cyclists.

I've had some fabulous rides this summer and I feel bad for not keeping up my blog as I should be.  Some of the highlights include renting a tandem bike and riding around Point Edward with Marcie, riding out to Mira Gut in torrential rain and a nice leisurely ride today to New Waterford.  Here's why they are highlights...

First off, I have to admit that I was wrong to think that a road bike wouldn't make that much difference in my riding.  I have a road bike now and it is amazing.  I feel like I'm flying on a cloud when I ride it!  That is probably why I ended up doing my first 100 km ride on Saturday.  I just couldn't stop riding!

The weather has been amazing this week. I knew I had to get out this weekend for a nice bike ride! The 52 Week Challenge is pretty easy now. I thought about doing Kelly's Climb but when I woke up today, I wasn't feeling very social. So I decided to go out on my own, to get muddy! I jumped on my mountain bike with the intention of checking out the old railbed between Dominion and Victoria Junction. I started on the trails behind the Mayflower Mall. It was awesome to be back in the woods on the bike again! It's amazing how quickly things have come back to life after the winter. There were birds chirping and insects buzzing everywhere. I traveled through the woods to Kyte's Hill Road and then down the Sydney/Glace Bay Highway to Victoria Junction. Here I attempted to find the railbed that travels into the Gardiner and then onto Dominion and Glace Bay. Everywhere I looked I found gates and fences. So, I decided to bike to the Gardiner on the road and then follow the trail back to Victoria Junction.