New rule . . .

We have a new rule at our house:

Drive it before you bike it!

Those of you who follow my blog know that Mr. Cobblestone and I routinely enjoy our biking, with most excursions being along our local bike trails.  These trails follow old railroad beds, thus having both enjoyably not-too-steep inclines and no car traffic.  But every once in a while, usually at the urging of Mr. Cobblestone, we venture onto real roads.

Today was one of those days.  The community just north of us on the bike trail was having their annual Fun Before the Fourth celebration and we thought it best to avoid the understandably congested area.  We had seen a route that met with my approval in a book titled Short Bike Rides.  It was a 12.3 mile loop touted as, and I quote "Slightly rolling" with "Light to moderate traffic."

Ahem . . . .

Perhaps it's just me, but the part where we were boxed in between cars that were entering the interstate qualified as a tad more than "moderate traffic" in my book.  And there was actually one hill near the end where, I'm sorry to say, I had to walk my bike.

Oh, the shame of it . . .

But the most humorous part of the adventure was that the town in the midst of this route was having their annual Strawberry Festival today.

image copyright of American Greeting

Streets were blocked off and thousands of people were milling about eating, drinking and wearing their strawberries proudly.  We did not stop to partake, since it would have been quite unpleasant to try to navigate the crowds with our bicycles in tow, and we were plenty hot, sweaty and a bit ripe ourselves from our "slightly rolling" exertion.  I hope the crowds appreciated my thoughtfulness.

Thanks to living in this age when one can find out about anything at any time, I googled the Festival this evening (had to see what we missed, didn't I?) laughing as I did so, thinking they probably even had Strawberry Brats! (For those of you outside of Wisconsin you'll need to google BRATS to see what all the fuss is about.)

Anyway ~ I was right!  Not only did they serve Strawberry Brats ~ they were the first item on the food list!  No big surprise I suppose when you consider that they serve Krispy Kreme Cheeseburgers at the State Fair ~ really.

Ah yes ~ a feeling of righteousness surged through my veins as we sat down to our dinner of grilled tuna and sautéed brussel sprouts.

I think I deserve a brownie . . .