Lucy and I did our usual Sunday morning things: we took Plato for a walk around Stop and Shop and then bought groceries and a Sunday paper. We didn't get donuts, though, because the little boys are away. After breakfast, Phil and I played a few games of StarCraft. Then, it was time for a bike ride.
I've been working myself up to ride to the 
Book Mill, so I aimed for that. I took 116 north to 47 and then turned off on Falls Road. The weather was almost perfect: just a little breeze out of the north that switched around to the south when it was time to come home -- but it was a very little breeze. Yesterday morning, there were essentially no wildflowers blooming that I had seen. By yesterday afternoon we saw the Sanguinaria in the neighborhood. On the ride, there is a low escarpment along Falls Road with a sheltered slope dutchman's breeches blooming and a bit farther on I saw Hepatica. Spring has sprung.
As one might guess, there is a pretty waterfall along Falls Road, a few miles short of the Book Mill. I stopped for 15 or 20 minutes to rest and enjoy the music of the water. I debated whether to push on -- I had already ridden 10 miles, which would make for a 20 mile ride total -- a very respectable ride -- and I worried that going all the way to the Book Mill would be a bit farther than I really wanted to go. But I decided I really wanted to mark off more roads on my map, rather than being forced to back-track, so I decided to push on.
I arrived at the Book Mill at lunch time. There were a lot of cyclists at the Book Mill -- probably a couple dozen. I would have bought a diet soda, if they had some (or any without caffeine, anyway), but they didn't have any of any description. I did refill my water bottles and ate some walnuts I had brought along, but mostly I just basked in the sun and watched the play of the water over the ruins of the old raceways.
Eventually, I headed back. I took the more direct route back along 47. That was quite a bit hillier than Falls Road, but more downhills than uphills. By that time, though, my legs were getting tired. When I got back to Sunderland, I seriously considered just taking the bus back home, but I persevered. If the bus had been right there, I might have given in, but it was running late and eventually arrived home at the same moment that I did. In the end, I rode just under 24 miles -- my longest ride so far. And I wasn't as tired as I was after the previous long ride. Progress!