Recently, my husband, Clif, celebrated his 60th birthday, and as we are both very keen on biking, we thought that over the course of the week, we would ride 60 miles in honor of his 60 years. Unfortunately, our schedules and the weather did not allow us to reach our goal. No matter! We went 48 miles and had a great low-carbon time.

Last night, Clif came home from work a bit early so that we could go on a bike ride. Even though we left our home by 6:00 P.M., it was dark on the last leg of our ten-mile trip along Memorial Drive, which goes by Maranacook Lake. We weren’t really that concerned. There are street lights as you get closer to town, and we have reflectors, lights, and flashers on our bikes. This means we can see and be seen, and there is something a little thrilling about riding in the night.

On the way back, we stopped at the public beach to look across the dark water at the lights and the night sky.

Then, it was on to Mia Lina’s, a better than average pizza place, for a Friday-night treat of Lina bread and a salad.

After supper we rode home, across busy Route 202, where there was night construction, and the kind road workers stopped traffic for us; down pretty Highland Avenue, with its street lights and big leafy trees; and finally onto Narrows Pond Road, where there are no street lights at all. Last night, it was so dark—no moon, no stars—that it looked as though we were about to enter a great, black tunnel on Narrows Pond Road. Down we went on our trusty bikes, our little lights beaming a safe course between the road and the ditch until we turned into our own driveway.

A good evening.