Starting the year off right

We went for a short ride today. We left our house and headed to the american river bike trail. We went west along the river, and took a side trip along the levee to some ponds where we saw some beaver last year. No beaver this time, just a couple of hawks and some ducks.

we took a short section of single track, through a marsh area overgrown with blackberries.

Monica had my new pannier on her bike and the contents stayed nice and dry despite the rain. We stopped at rei to look for a touring book that I've wanted for a while, no book but it was a nice break. Monica fell in the mud while hiking up a hill to cross some train tracks to get back to the bike trail. The weather was nice, it rained most of the way. About 12 miles, it felt nice to get back on the bike and be outside.