A Ride With Farms, Gardens & Mountain Views

Elwood decided that over the summer he would take his vacation a day or two at a time, rather than taking two weeks at once. Agnolia, who knew how easy it was to get distracted by mundane chores, suggested they plan some outings for Elwood's long weekends. Since they were planning to give the twins new bikes for their birthday in June, Elwood suggested they plan some biking excursions.

Looking for advice on good family biking trails, Agnolia called Karen whom she knew liked to go biking with her four children. When Agnolia asked Karen if she could suggest some good family biking trails, Karen said,

Kate Carter, the Editor of Vermont Sports, has a book, Mountain Bike! Vermont with some trails the kids really enjoy. In the section called "Ride Recommendations for Special Interests" the author has grouped the trails into categories. The categories make it easy to select just the right ride for a family outing. There are 20 trails which offer great wildlife viewing. Another collection of trails are listed as family rides. Last week we took the Silver Lake Ride which is listed as a "Fishing and Biking" ride. The ride is only 5 miles long and goes by several horse farms. The kids had a great time. It was a warm day; we pack a lunch and our fishing rod, start early, biked a bit, fished a while and then biked back to the car. I'm sure you will find some rides the twins will enjoy in Mountain Bike! Vermont.

At Karen's suggestion, Agnolia picked up a copy of Mountain Bike! Vermont. That evening after the twins had gone to bed, Elwood and Agnolia sat down with their new book to make a list of summer bike rides. Because Karen had been so enthusiastic about the Silver Lake ride, Agnolia turned to page 79 to learn more about the ride. When she read that the ride was "easy" and that you could stop along the way to go swimming, she put the Silver Lake ride on their list.

Elwood, who had wanted to take the twins to the Shelburne Farms, was pleased to see a Shelburne Farms ride in the list of family rides. When he turned to page 130, he read the Shelburne Farm ride was "easy" and "basically flat." After reading the description of the ride, Elwood decided the best part of this family ride was what you could do along the way--visit the "working farm, gardens, stables and a wonderful museum" and the things you could see during the ride which included "beautiful views of Camel's Hump, Mount Mansfield and Lake Champagne."

As Elwood put down the book he said, "I'm glad we decided to get the twins bikes for their birthday."

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