More Prep Progress!

Today, on our 1-year anniversary, we took a beautiful ride on a beautiful day. We explored our local trail network, and even the paths beyond the current trail that hopefully will someday be trail, too. Then we retraced our tire tracks back from the path and took an existing trail to downtown Northampton where we enjoyed a delicious lunch at our favorite restaurant (Paul & Elizabeth's).

In the morning, we ate wedding cake for breakfast. Om nom nom! Thanks so much to Brett's Mom for saving it in the freezer for us. And thanks to Guy for bringing it down from Leyden yesterday. It was such a treat.

After a quick peek into Deals & Steals, we pedaled over to Northampton Bicycle where we started to gather stuff for the trip! We purchased a fancy odometer. We're not exactly sure why we splurged on the wireless one, but at least we know that the system won't break down in the middle of the continent when we accidentally break the wire. But, it looks cool, and it'll look even better when it's on the bike.

A quick photo break on the bike path heading out to Haydenville.

Our last stop of the day was at our friends' place for maintenance advice and tutorials. Alex lent us maps, Ruthy taught us how to break and fix a chain, we talked about brakes, they offered suggestions for tools to carry, and then they took a quick spin around the block. Thanks, you two!

On our way home, we stopped by the side of the road for some free tomato plants! We also got to meet Tom, the grower of the plants (he started too many!) and talked to him about our bike and our trip. It's always fun to meet friendly people in our neighborhood. Thanks for the plants, Tom!

Back home happy, at the end of our anniversary day ride!