As soon as I woke up yesterday I knew it was going to be a good day. Being Friday, the day already had a head start on things, but beyond that, it just felt good to be alive and awake and healthy. The sun was out and the temperature was rising [not too high, just warm - perfect].

The work day was fairly uneventful, but some disc [read Frisbee] at lunch really helped prevent the fact that I was at work from bringing me down. A co-worker commented, "It would be a good hammock day". That assessment was right on. It would have been a perfect hammock day [a few cold ones wouldn't have hurt the situation either]. [You may notice, if you stick around Crankarm for a while, I sort of have a thing for hammocks... and cold ones.] But there I was with nary a hammock or a beer in sight, and an afternoon of work to get through before the weekend could begin.

I plodded through my work with the thoughts of hammock and beer floating through my head. As the end of the workday approached, I cranked up the Darkness and counted down the minutes until Elsa emailed me to say she was on her way. [She picks me up from work to compensate for car deficiency.]

We decided to try out the new trail we discovered that happens to be about 5 minutes ride from our door in St. Jacobs. It's called the Health Valley Trail and it is part of the Trans Canada Trail. The access point we use is at the end of Printery road, which is on the south end of the main street in St. Jacobs.

Before the hardcore lot gets all up in arms, I should clarify that Elsa does not, under even the loosest of definitions, mountain bike. She's afraid of heights [including hills] and not at all interested in the marvels of adrenaline. So when we go for a ride together, it is usually on what I could call a 'path', rather than a 'trail'. The Health Valley Trail is really a smooth, wide bike path. If I was ever inclined to jog [maybe if both of my bikes were somehow destroyed by a freak meteor shower] I would do it on the Health Valley Trail.

The trail is generally level, but there is one hill that reminded me that sitting at a desk all day every day does very little to develop your aerobic fitness. And the trail is certainly not without its charms.

It passes fields, winds through forested areas, and follows the Consetogo River.

It also follows Hwy 85 for a bit, and passes a water treatment plant but neither really bothers me too much.

The trail eventually arrives at a parking lot just east of the main street. You can head west through the parking lot, across King, past the grain towers and pick the trail up again if you like, but on that day Elsa and I opted to bike up through town and stop at the bakery. [Ahh, the bakery. Those Mennonites sure do make mean a molasses cookiee.] All in all, a fun ride. Not very long, but a perfect way for me and Elsa to kick off a summer[ish] weekend.