1) Congratulations on your first one! Sounds like there will be many more to follow.
2) Did you stop at the Rexville Grocery? That place is awesome. Even though it's just an info control on the 3RV2 permanent, I still stopped in to get some grub.

On the Centennial trail, you can ride around most of the bollards by cutting through the gravel/dirt paths were everyone else has managed to go around them. Just be mindful that traffic has the right of way, and that's why the bollards are there. I think there's only 2 intersections where you can't cut around them. Macchias Station (along the trail) is a great place to refill water bottles and sit at a picnic table for a few minutes, and the bathrooms are clean.