First ride on the bike trail

Monday
I spent the morning preparing for Book Club this afternoon. I had finished the book yesterday, but wanted to do a bit more research about it. The book was The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. It is historical fiction, telling the remarkable story of Belle de Costa Green, who was employed in her young twenties by the famous banker and financier JP Morgan as his personal librarian for his newly built library housing some of his amazing collection of ancient manuscripts, books and art. She soon becomes one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, a remarkable achievement for a woman during these times (the early 20th century). However she was keeping a tightly guarded secret - whilst passing as a white woman in the racial society of the time, she was actually born as Belle Marion Greener, the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well known advocate for equality. It was from her father that she developed her passion for art and the printed word. However, her parents broke up when Belle was in her early teens, and her mother, seeing the way things were going for colored people, decided for the sake of the future of her children, to change their name and pass as white. She invented a Portuguese grandmother to explain their dark complexion. Somehow, through her intelligence, style and wit, Belle is able to pull it off, and her secret isn’t discovered until well after her death. It’s a fascinating read, and I thoroughly recommend it.
It was a beautiful sunny and warm afternoon, and Suzy who was hosting Book club lives only about 20 minutes walk away, so I decided to walk. Everyone was enthusiastic and fascinated by the book, and we had a great meeting with good discussion, and enjoyed a delicious lemon and blueberry cake she had made.
Earlier in the day, Roger and I had discussed going out for a bike ride when I got back, and by the time I returned, he already had the tandem on the car ready to go, and after a cup of tea we set off to the bike trail at South Lebanon, and just did a modest 10 miles return.
Step count: 7,123
Cycling (tandem) 10 miles