Exploring a new bike trail

Now that it isn't 1,007 degrees out every afternoon, its the perfect weather to go for bike rides!  So that is what we did all afternoon.  My mom grabbed us some bike trail maps the other day when she was in a bike shop and Brad spent some time studying them.  Low and behold, he found a trail that is in our neck of the woods!  The Oak Creek Trail starts in Valparaiso and ends in Brainard.  If you go from start to finish, its around 13 miles.  We didn't make it quite that far on this trip, but we made it far enough to know that this trail is gorgeous, and that we want to go back every Sunday until it snows.  Maybe we'll even get snow tires for our bikes and go then.  Its a limestone trail, like the MoPac, and it is very shady and tree-covered most of the way.  There are fun little horse trails that branch off the main trail, as long as your idea of fun is to dodge big piles of steaming horse poo.  I'm thinking that this trail could be very beneficial to my marathon training.  Its even a perfect distance.  Half marathon out, half marathon back...I don't think this is a coincidence.
And here is my super-proud mama moment from today.  For about 4 miles of our ride, Brad ditched his bike and rode mine so that I could get in a run.  Willa stayed in her cozy little bike trailer.  When we got back to Brad's bike, I asked Willa if she wanted to get out and stretch her legs for a bit before we finished our bike riding.  She got out...and ran!  And ran and ran and ran.  Just like mama.  I didn't time how long she kept on running, but I bet it had to have been half a mile before she agreed to get back in the trailer.  I just loved seeing her run like that, after seeing me do it.  I read a lot of fitness blogs, written by women/moms whose main focus is living a healthy lifestyle and role modeling that lifestyle for their daughters.  It made me so happy to see that working in our family.  I want so much for Willa to be a healthy, strong little lady who is proud of her body and all that it can do.  We might be on the right track:)