Day 247 - The smiles would soon fade...

My friend Lisa and I have signed up for a fun cycling event scheduled for next weekend in Fredericton called "The Tour du Vin". The idea of it is that a large group of people ride 10 km, stop to partake of a taste of wine and a sampling of food from a particular country, then ride another 10 km before stopping again for another set of samples, this time from a different country. You visit four countries all told and ride between 30 and 50 km. Great fun.

Except that I haven't ridden a bike in two years. Uh oh. Lisa's alright: she's a runner and a cyclist and a former top calibre rower so this shouldn't be too tough for her. In order to have a hope of keeping up with her, I've been riding for the past several weeks, slowly building up my stamina (from eight blocks the first night to about 15 km last weekend).

This weekend, we agreed to try my most ambitious ride yet: 40 km, from Fredericton to Mactaquac and back.

Except we got lost. We took the wrong trail and, after more than 30 km, had still not found Mactaquac. We found ourselves in Millville, about 16 km north of Mactaquac. We decided to turn around and head back. But not before we stopped in at "Bird's (C)orner Store" in, you guessed it, Burtt's Corner, for a drink and a snack. And a kind young woman in the parking lot agreed to snap our picture (see above).

We look happy here. But, by the end of our 64.5 km death ride, the smiles were no longer available. As Lisa kept saying, however, it's a story to tell and a great photograph: a snapshot of Mark and Lisa in Burtt's Corner.