So Amanda and I are just two days away from celebrating our wedding anniversary. This year, as a combined anniversary present and Valentine’s day present, I got her a brand new shiny road bike. We actually got her fitted for it and bought it almost a week ago, but the short days of winter and the Super Bowl last week prevented her from actually riding it until today.

Her new aluminum-framed Specialized Allez took its maiden voyage down the round-trip of the paved portion of the American Tobacco Trail, which helped us improve our pace by a good two miles. I started my love of cycling pretty much on the American Tobacco Trail a few years back, so it’s only fitting that’s where Amanda start. The trail was crowded, especially near the South end, and there were all kinds of people young and old, oblivious to others. Amanda noted it’s a lot easier to get going fast on the lighter, more efficient road bikes, and I’m hoping soon, she’ll grow out of the greenways and embrace the abundance of roads around us. But like she said, baby steps…

I was impressed too but my return ride from the trailhead near South Point, back home. We rode out together in the 4Runner to the ATT, but I convinced her I’d be safe and efficient, getting a quick workout home. So I basically followed the same route home that we did in the car and only returned 15-20 minutes behind Amanda in the car. I was thoroughly impressed with that and my sub 3 minute average pace at 20.4 mph!