My bike is a roving sanctuary.

I feel most at peace when I am pedaling, passing through somewhere beautiful.

For our 12th anniversary, Benjamin and I stayed in Lewes, Delaware at Hotel Rodney. The hotel was clean and cozy, and the bar downstairs was great for mid-afternoon drinks. We had breakfasts at Nectar, seafood lunches at Striper Bites, and pizza dinners at Half Full. All of these restaurants were delicious!

The highlight of our week, however, was visiting Cape Henlopen State Park and riding on Gordon’s Trail. Gordon’s quickly became our favorite new trail. It’s about 3 miles from end to end, and it features:

1. an elevated boardwalk… where we saw praying mantis sunning themselves

2. a salt marsh…where we stopped to admire the 900 acre vastness and the millions of migrating birds

3.stunning views of the Atlantic… where we saw dolphins leap out of the water at sunset

We rode every day. It was quiet and open. Acres and acres of nothing but nature and only a few humans at a time. The other members of our species were also on their bikes, so we exchanged smiles and nods of understanding. It is a given that most of the time, people riding their bikes through nature, smile, a lot. If you’re an adult bicyclist, you feel like a kid again. And if you’re a kid on a bike, you just understand.

It’s the freedom and the fresh air.

I love salty air on my skin. Spending 7 days in a small, coastal town, biking close to the beach was heaven for me! As I write this, it is early February. I am watching it snow. I am cozy in our little New York apartment, but I am dreaming of last October when we were on that Delaware trail. I am also dreaming of the new trails we will discover around these river towns, once the snow finally melts.

For now, I have to be content with being indoors. For now, I have to be ok with doing yoga and dancing around my living room for exercise. This is challenging. I am much more comfortable mobile and outside. Stillness is sweetest for me only after I have ridden a few miles, and I can rest against my handle bars.