Creeper, redux

Today, as part of the last hurrah of summer, I took Eli and Briggs back to the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's a rail roadbed that's been converted into a biking/hiking trail. We went back in April with Scouts, but that was a cold and rainy day. Today we had much better weather. The boys had a nice time. We sprang for shuttle service to the top of the trail ($40), but it was worth it in terms of no-hassle. Back in April we saw this pool in the river that tracks the trail, but it was way too cold to go near it. Briggs had no such worries today.

Briggs says, "I slipped and fell in, honest!"  "Accidentally-on-purpose," no doubt!

Creeper

The Cub Scouts took a day trip to Damascus, VA on Monday to ride a portion of the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's an old railroad bed stripped down to make a bike trail. We made good time getting there, hoping the whole way that the clouds would give way to clearer skies (and drier weather) before we hit the trail. After a quick stop in Damascus to rent one bike we headed to Mt. Rogers for the start of the trail. It was socked in with fog like nobody's business; and at one point on the trail it was flat-out raining! But everyone including the boys kept a good attitude and persevered. I think I pedaled once at the start and then used only the brakes for the first 8 miles. It was a very easy ride. We got strung out along the trail as some kept up a very brisk pace and others dawdled. I managed to keep up with both Eli and Briggs through a lunch break (the burger shack was not yet open, so it was good that we had planned to eat picnic-y food). Another few miles and we were back in town. We had made good time and were able to head home ahead of schedule. The clouds and rain cleared around 3PM, when we were recovering on the porch of our outfitter's store. Of course. Eli got a good workout with his new bike and we all had a great time. We want to do it again in warmer weather and get in the river that runs beside the trail. We crossed over more than 20 bridges on this section of the trail! Very nice views as a result. It took about 2.5 hours each way going through TN. The ride up to Whitetop Mountain was typical windy mountain driving. Downhill was definitely the way to go. The other section of the trail between Damascus and Abingdon is reportedly more up-and-down. We'll want to check that out sometime too.

Two- (or four-) wheeling fun

One of the nice things about "no-TV" days the past couple of weeks has been that the boys have gotten reacquainted with some old friend-toys. This evening it was bikes.

You can't enjoy the best part of this image: Calvin making his own sound effects!

Briggs started working on riding without training wheels a couple of months ago, but claimed he wasn't quite ready. Tonight it all came together for him. A few times around the yard built up his confidence to add his helmet and move onto the street.

Eli was very nice and sacrificed his own riding (for a while) and pushed Calvin around the yard.