two hundred and twenty four

It was a milestone day in Catherine’s biking career. Today was her first substantial ride, 12.2 miles around the Martha’s Vineyard Airport in the Manuel F Correllus State Park.

[on the map in the photo it is the section of trails in the very center of the island]

It was a long ride, double her longest ride to date, but she handled it with ease. We are so fortunate to have access to some really wonderful bike trails here- smooth, mostly flat and not overcrowded!

There will be two things that will remain in her memory of this first big ride. The pouring rain that soaked us for the entire second half of the trail, and our brief encounter with the First Lady and her dog Bo.

We biked passed Michelle Obama and her entourage with little fanfare and we greeted her as we did everyone else we had passed so far, with a nod, a hello and a smile. Esme added her two cents in with a “I love your dog!” from the tag-a-long behind me. In return we got a smile, a chuckle and a hearty “Thank you!” as we rode on. We also got a keen ‘looking over’ by several secret service agents.

All in all (even with the rain) it was a fun ride and a proud day for a great seven year old!