Bike Riding featuring Columbia's Waterways

Way to go Columbia...You have provided some beatiful trails right along the river and canal. They are maintained very nicely and offer shaded and sunny, paved and unpaved trails right by the Congaree River and historic canal. Friday I took the girls for a short bike ride but then they really wanted daddy to come with us.So, Saturday afternoon we took the whole family for a long bike ride. It ended up being about 5 miles total. They loved it and never complained of being tired. I've never seen legs move so fast on such tiny bikes (especially Arianna's). In fact, one family passed us and I heard them comment as they were looking back at Arianna cruising along on her little bike saying, "Did you see that little girl--she didn't look old enough." They got a good laugh out of it. We had to stop along the way to enjoy the abundant honey suckle vines and wild blackberries. They were so sweet smelling and tasting! Arianna and I couldn't get enough. We'll definitely make this a regular family activity.

These first pictures show my ride with the girls on Friday. You can see the river in the background and we are on one of the many bridges and boardwalks that carried us along the path and under bridges.
Little side note here...Notice the outfits, especially the "leg warmers." Aparently it is the new fashion style with the girls. It started by cutting off some socks that had holes and now they love to wear these colorful creations with their carefully chosen outfits.
This next one is of the canal. We had stopped here to walk over to the river and get a closer look.
The river is on the other side of the paved trail.
Yummy blackberries!
Now that I have praised Columbia for its one great bike trail can I just say that it's time to create a few more??? I'm loving bike riding and I think if we had more trails to get to and from grocery stores, parks and other attractions we'd be riding a lot more. Unfortunately our neighborhood is stuck between some very busy roads and we can't really get anywhere without having to deal with a lot of traffic and drivers not used to seeing bikers. Maybe I should look into starting a local campaign for more bike trails, right? :) Sure would be nice. Anyone else agree and want to help!