A Three-Park Day

Sunday was just the kind of day you’d want to spend at the park. How about three parks? That’s just what we did...on bicycles!

A few brand new developments: Mrs C has a road bike that she’s excited to ride, and Nat has suddenly decided she enjoys cycling!  Don’t pinch me...I don’t want to wake up.

This was an important chance to spend a little family time together, and I wanted them to be happy during the ride. For our outing, I needed to find a route that wasn’t too difficult for everybody.  Getting acquainted with gearing takes a little time, and I didn’t want to frustrate my new co-riders. We needed maximum appeal and minimum challenge.  I could almost recommend this ride to families, except for the problems posed to riders on South Commercial. We had to do some heavy improvising there.

So, we started our journey at Wallace Marine Park, passing several soccer games and folks walking their pets. From there we crossed Salem’s iconic Union Street Bridge, carefully winding our way around all the foot and skateboard traffic. We ambled through Riverfront Park where parents and kids were twirling, chasing, playing catch. The ride became less than ideal for recreational riding, as we had to make our way down part of South Commercial which has some problem spots for cyclists. Ultimately, we got to Minto-Brown Island Park, where it seemed everybody and their dog was, too. (Mild pun attempt: there’s a section of the park for folks to let their dogs off leash to run and play).

All in all, it was only about 10 miles. But my riding partners enjoyed it...and our next outing together will be just a wee bit more challenging. They're up for it!