River skating

I went skating today on Winnipeg's River Trail. It was the first time I'd been skating in, umm, well, I'm not sure exactly. A long time. 10 years? Something like that.

It's the longest naturally frozen skating trail in the world. No, really. It is.

I went for about 5 miles maybe. I went from near my place to one end of it - the end on the Assiniboine River, not the Red River - and back and then a bit farther, as the river loops around my neighborhood, so going past where I started didn't put me any farther away from home than if I'd stopped where I started.

It was a good time. Interesting to see houses from the backside rather than the front side. There are some very nice homes along the river, and it was interesting to see how some of them have little (and some not so little) buildings along the river. Guest houses, perhaps. And at least one of those guest houses was bigger than some of my friend's places.

It was a pleasant skate, although much more so when I was going with the wind. That was the return leg of my journey, and I was happy about that. Skating with the wind - or without the wind in your face - was almost like skating downhill.

I'm not a great skater. One guy on fancy speed skates went speeding by me. Three times. But I didn't fall down, not even when I tried some cross overs. Didn't try an backwards skating, as there's not really the space for it. The trail's not really wide, so going backwards in my not so skilled manner might lead to some traffic problems.

But all in all, a good time.