How I'm spending my summer vacation...

What summer vacation? As a working person, summer's not much different than winter, or spring or fall. But the day's are longer, giving us more time to recreate outdoors, so I'm trying to take advantage. The "new" thing I've been doing more of this summer is mountain biking. I've had a mountain bike for 10 or 15 years, but admit that it has rarely hit the dirt, with a few exceptions I've mostly putzed around the streets with it. Last year a girlfriend of mine took up mountain biking in a pretty serious way, and she's often looking for someone to bike with (or babysit while she bikes). So I have been actually getting out on the trails this year, and really enjoying it. We haven't been going terribly far, as her 10 year old daughter tends to pace our travels, but we've been on some hills and rocky trails. Last night a group of us, my friend, her daughter and two former students from the lab, went out and had a great time. The uphills, especially when rocky, are hard for me, but it sure is a good work out. And I did do about as well as my 26 year old friends (that or they were just being nice to the old lady!) so I was pleased. And I'm actually starting to get the hang of the rocky down hill sections; they are not nearly as terrifying as they were the first few times I went out. Now I'm starting to wonder why I didn't go out mountain biking more in the past. Perhaps having enthusiastic friends to go with makes the difference. We're going to try to have regular weekly rides for the rest of summer. Who knows, maybe it will even help loose the extra weight that makes the uphills hard. Now if I can only start getting myself to start biking to work....