FROM THE BIKE TRAIL

Good morning! Here I am in sunny, but crispy cool, Lanesboro, along the Root River. Ernie decided to go golfing this morning, and I do not golf. Tried it but don't like it. So he dropped me off at the fitness club that sports a sign in the window: Free Wi-Fi Hot Spot. There is a double door entry from the street, the first door into this entry which is about 12X36, and then there is another entry into the fitness center. The entry hall has three tables with chairs, and each one has an electrical plug in! So I am sitting in the sun by the table, and I'm the only one here. The connection is weak, but at least it's a connection!

The golf course is very hilly, so Ernie may not want to bike this afternoon!

Yesterday we rode about ten miles, and my new bike works very well! My old butt, however, is sore this morning. The first mile out of town was full of wildlife, like this deer, many birds, and
this caterpillar. Isn't the saying the wider the brown stripe, the colder the upcoming winter? We must have seen a hundred or more caterpillars, and they have very wide brown stripes. Prepare for the cold winter ahead!

I kept stopping to take pictures while Ernie just kept on riding. I told him I was gathering blogging material!
The trail goes through farm land and wood land alike. Pretty red barn and one lone cow.
The trail is part of Minnesota's rail to trail system. The old train tracks have been removed, and the rail bed has been paved, so the ride is very comfortable. (Except on your butt!) The trail follows the Root River, a very picturesque ride through the hills and along the river. Southeastern Minnesota is very beautiful.

Even the old bridge has been renovated for bike travel.
In one place the farmer on one side of the trail, had a field on the other side of the trail. He just crossed over the trail to get to his field. Would be a big roadblock had he chosen to stop in the middle of the trail!
As we rode back into town we came upon this scene and Ernie asked if I could put my picture on my blog with a "scratch and sniff" option! There was a stock yard right next to this stream and boy, did it ever smell!

LINDA: You asked how I can do these things with FMS. Well, this is my answer: I am so blessed that my legs don't seem to suffer as much as my neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, and upper chest area. I have always been able to walk and hike, pretty much as much as I want, without too much problem. Oh, once in awhile during a huge flare up, I will have leg pain, but mostly I can walk as I please. I have not ridden bike in about five years, so we'll see if this brings me troubles or not. I was afraid that the pressure on my arms and shoulders would prohibit me from riding, but we found a bike with extremely adjustable handlebars. I am sitting almost upright with my arms not stretched way out in front of me, so I'm hoping I can pull it off. We'll see. It's usually the second day after an activity that gets me flared up, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. Actually, I feel that a huge part of my problem is stress, and if I can avoid that (right!) I seem to do better. And I have pain pills, and I try to stay away from white flour, white sugar, white rice and pasta. Don't know it that helps or not, but if it helps in my mind, then I feel it helps my FMS. I try to be happy, and feel so blessed that I don't suffer severe depression as I know so many FMS sufferers do. Does this help at all?