Marching Along

March Madness

The first week of March was an eventful one. My husband had his second cataract removed on the 1st. Both of his surgeries went well, and he is able to see without glasses for the first time since he was a boy. The next day was his birthday, so after taking him for his follow up appointment with the eye doctor, we went to one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner. We saw another couple from our community there, so we joined them at their table and had great food and conversation.

Friday night we went out to eat with our next door neighbors as one of them was having a birthday on Saturday. We celebrated the two birthdays with a nice meal, followed by dessert at our house. I was told one of my neighbor's favorite desserts was Bumbleberry Pie. Needless to say, I was intrigued. What in the world is a bumbleberry? As it turn out, there is no such thing and it's just a fun name Canadians put on a mixed fruit pie. I decided to make one, and it is a lovely pie. Not too sweet, but not too tart either. I served it with vanilla ice cream, and we all enjoyed it.

Bumbleberry Pie

Saturday afternoon I played in my fist Queen City Pickleball League game. My husband and I are both on the team, though neither of us was scheduled to play yesterday. One of the women needed a sub, so I said I could come. Each team had 6 players, consisting of three men and three women. I played a game with each of the women on our team as well as one with each of the men, for a total of 5 games. It was outside, and the wind was definitely a factor. It was a lot of fun, and our team ended up winning 8 of the 15 games. Not too bad for our first time playing together. Jim and I both play next Saturday against a different team.

Today we were supposed to go kayaking with a group of people in our neighborhood. But the wind gusts are up to 25 mph, so I think we are going to pass despite the nice temperature. I think I will take my electric bike out for a ride instead. I've been trying to ride 6-7 miles each day, and I have been pretty successful in doing that. Ride on...

Bicycle Built for One

Our new neighborhood has many hills, which makes it great exercise while walking but a real bear when on a bicycle. I finally got to the point where I could ride my bike to the pickleball courts without having to get off and walk the bike. But going anywhere beyond that in the community was not happening. There is a bike club here, but I could never join in the fun because I wouldn't be able to keep up.

So for Christmas my husband got me an electric bike. There are probably a couple dozen people here who have one, so I was able to see different models and even ride a few. I listened closely to what they liked and didn't like about their bikes. We have a Trek store nearby, so we went there in December to see what they had. I really liked the look of the Townie 7D, which was redesigned for 2022. But they didn't have any that I could ride. They did, however, have a 2021 available. I took that one out for a spin, and rode a different style bike as well, and I really liked the Townie. It is pedal assist, so you must be pedaling to use the power.

We put a deposit down on a Tahiti Blue bike that was supposed to arrive in mid January. Like many other things during Covid, that didn't happen. They finally got the bike in last weekend and assembled it, and I was going to pick it up on Monday. But Monday was a rainy day, and I knew I would want to take it for a spin to make sure everything worked fine and didn't want to do that on wet pavement. Tuesday was sunny so we got to the store shortly after it opened. 

By borrowing the neighbors bike rack we were able to take my old Trek in to be evaluated as a trade in. When the sales guy looked at the rack, he said there was no way we could put the Townie on that to get it home. It just wasn't substantial enough for a 45 pound bike. Fortunately the front tire on the new bike is a quick release, so we were easily able to get it in the back of our car.

I've taken the bike out three days in a row, and I absolutely love it! I mostly have the power off, just engaging it when I'm going up a hill. I can ride with Jim now, so I know we will motivate each other to get out and get fit. I'm also eager to join the bike club and meet some new people. Merry Christmas!