Today was my first day riding with Dale. We didn't leave Alexander City until about 10:00 AM because, surprisingly, it was a little chilly (40's) and we wanted to avoid the early morning traffic as the roads are still narrow and busy. We had a great ride together. Dale noted my improved riding and hill skills. We powered up lots of rolling hills and kept it to about 32 miles as it was his first day and, just as important, it felt right for me. The first road was a little busy but as we moved away from Alexander City the traffic lessened. We were passed by about 7-8 logging trucks but they all gave us wide berth. The only vehicle that came close and made my heart miss a beat was a large RV towing a jeep. After we finished the ride, we drove back to a dam we'd passed owned by Alabama Power. It was fun seeing the power of the water and a beautiful bald eagle flew right in front of us.

We stayed at the Best Western in Clanton and Marie and I sat around the pool for an hour plus and, although only in the 60s, the sun felt great. Dale then joined us and he and Marie took a walk down the hill to Peach Park. It is a food market which sells fresh pies, cookies, ice cream as well as tourist items, fruits and vegetables. Once they returned, he then encouraged me to join him on a walk down there and surprisingly, no purchases were made either visit. The current peach queen, adorned in her tiara, was there during Dale and Marie's visit and I did enjoy looking at the wall of Peach Queen photos from over the years. We then went to a family restaurant in town and had a nice dinner. I was grateful to be able to get some asparagus with my meal. Outside of a couple of salads, greens have not been abundant at the places we have eaten. We were both tired from the biking, but were pleased that neither of us had sore joints or muscles, especially considering we'd spent around three hours biking and had navigated some real hills.