Let it rip!

Early this afternoon we rolled onto Sussex Drive in Cranberry Township, PA to Jim's parents. I tried not too hug Lily too hard; we were so happy to see her. Today was a short pleasant 21 miles from Saxonburg to Cranberry mainly on rolling country roads.

Biking on a tandem requires one of the primary skills needed in a good relationship and to parent- communication. Through our travels, we've developed our own vernacular. On hilly windy roads, I am not into a lot of speed. I'll often call out "coast" (e.g. stop peddling) and "break" (time to slow us down). But when its a strait shot and I can see the next hill coming up after the big decline, I'll call out, "let it rip!" and Jim knows there is no need to brake and we let our momentum build and enjoy the hard wind on our faces. Today, on a back road to avoid the strip mall traffic into Cranberry, "let it rip," led to our highest speed of the trip- 36 miles per hour. So we ended our 140 mile tour back at the home where Jim's parents raised seven kids. A place that used to be in the country and is now surrounded by shopping malls. A place where young kids walking down the street to the woods to pick wild blackberries is a thing of distant memories, but lives on in our encounters on our bike in the PA countryside where Jim would all of a sudden stop peddling without notice to jump off the bike to harvest the ripe berries and call out "goldmine", which was the call for Doug, Greg and Laura to come running to help in the berry collection.