Inaugural Trail Ride

Today I decided to take my new bike out on the Montour Trail for the first time. I needed to work through some stress and clear my mind. Paul dropped me off at the start of the trail in Coraopolis and arranged to pick me up at the park near the 8 mile mark.

This pic was taken at the side of the trail a few miles into the trip while I stopped to have a quick drink of water:
Most of the trail was relatively level. It was decently smooth riding too - most of it was crushed limestone though there were a few paved areas. I was a little nervous since I hadn't ridden in quite a while and wasn't sure how long was an appropriate distance for me. It turns out that 8 miles was not too bad. I definitely felt like I had a workout when I had finished, but I knew that I could have kept going further too. But there was no need to push it today. I thought it was a pretty successful first ride. Overall, I had a relaxing bit of time to myself and really enjoyed the outdoors too. I saw tons of butterflies, a rabbit and two baby deer along the way.