First Landing Bike and Hike 12-7-10

It was bitterly cold. Outer space cold. Mariana Trench cold. It was so cold, Roald Amundsen would have stayed home. But the Tuesday group always goes FORWARD, so seven insulated toughs met in a 16 degree windchill bundled up and ready to RIDE! Shivering behind the Bloom Grocery Store in VA Beach were Bob M, Bob A, Mark, Vic, Margaret O, Carl and Phyllis. Vic’s water bottle slipped from his gloved hands and shattered as it hit the subzero pavement. The water (now ice) scattered in all directions as it sublimated before our eyes! Picking up the pieces we wondered how our appendages would fare in this inhospitable environment! “HAH!” we shouted as we donned gloves, hats and scarves and climbed aboard our trusty bicycles and headed down the trail. Trees afforded some protection from the bitter wind as we rocketed along. Spirits were high as we made our first stop (3 blocks away) at the Pisones. (Cold weather makes for anxious bladders). After a brief stop to warm up and refuel we were back on the road heading for the park. Vic led the way taking us along paths less traveled, climbing hills and dodging leaning trees. Another brief stop at the Visitor Center and we continued into the park. We maintained a brisk enough pace to keep our body temperatures at an acceptable level, but after passing two or three poor little squirrels frozen to low hanging branches, we made the decision not to ride on the Boardwalk. We did ride to the Narrows and spent a few minutes at the boat ramp watching the white caps toss the ice bergs back and forth. All agreed it was not a good day for paddling. We did however, find a sun drenched trail along the Narrows protected from the wind. We parked our bikes and went for a hike. This was a very pleasant walk and we even took a short break to warm our frost nipped toes and fingers.

We backtracked along the trail and remounted our bikes for the return ride. It hadn’t warmed up very much, though one or two of the previously mentioned squirrels appeared to be thawing. Our pace accelerated (knowing we were heading for ice cream) but not so much that we couldn’t pause to say “Hi” to Sandra and her new canine companion, Dylan, out for a stroll. Dylan is one handsome fellow and hopefully will be joining us soon on some of our hikes. Bob A. seemed to draw Dylan’s interest the most (adding to my theory that Bob was indeed raised by wolves). We soon arrived at the Pisones for our after ride reward which was not only ice cream sundaes and banana splits but a visit from Marti and Ellis as well! And Ellis looking fit and fine! We all enjoyed our ice cream amongst the toasty warmth of good friends and good conversation. Nobody wanted to leave (it was still pretty cold outside) but eventually we made our farewells and headed back to our vehicles. A warm and wonderful end to a fun and frosty day!

Phyllis

(We’ll say ~20 miles biking + hiking).

Click on the link to view Phyllis' pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/m.malabad/12710?authkey=Gv1sRgCLP7z7LH5Oq2WA#