Ohio Trekker
10-01-03, 09:35 PM
Just wanted to share some enthusiasm from my last few rides. Took my younger son to a trail not far from here, and kinda got lost, asked an officer for directions and he replied in a puzzled tone, "your gonna ride that trail". It didn't dawn on me till we got there what he meant. It was a material I had never seen before on all our trail rides, and it seems as though it had WAY too much sand and was near impossible to pedal on. Got about 3 miles in and there was a bridge washed out, so we looked at each other THRILLED not to have to complete the whole route. We turned back and at the first street, took it to avoid the trail. It was a BLAST riding the roads, and being out in the country their was nearly no traffic at all so a great experience for young rider. Folks were waving at him from their yards and saying hi, commenting on his class mascot (a stuffed gorrila) hanging out of his handle bar bag. He was in all his glory as was I to see him having such a good time.
Next day we did the trail closest to our house. Took it South to an area we had never passed since I wanted to keep him off the hills for awhile. After passing the hills and a few busy intersections we ended up off in the "neighborhoods" which were well marked and part of the route. Again he was having a blast riding on streets, while I stayed behind him and to the left enough to be the target for moving cars and shielding him. Had to ride one 5 lane street, that was undergoing resurfacing and hadn't been striped yet. PLUS we had to do a left turn with no turn lane. I made sure before we entered the street that he knew what we were going to do, and that he pay explicit attention to my directions, he did and it went really well. It was such a glorious ride, not too hot, not too cool. Ran into one of the bike patrols and talked awhile, and headed for home. On the way through one of the neighborhoods, we were pulling up a hill towards a stop sign, when all of a sudden someone flew around a corner into a driveway narrowly missing little guy. I screamed at the top of my lungs and he stopped just as little guy got past the driver side of his bumper. The idiot never even looked back and just pulled into the driveway. I screemed as loud as I could telling my son, that's why we don't ride on the street, and that's the kind of ***hole you have to watch for constantly, really more for his benefit than for my son's. The guy's window was open so I'm sure he heard me, and he could have asked if he was Ok or something but chose not to. PIG.... son learned a vary valuable lesson, and short of a heart-attack on my part, was unscathed. By the time we made it back through the neighborhood it was getting dark and we hit the trail, and got off the street just in time. 30 miles round trip for the little guy, saw lots of deer, and a couple of possums, smelled a few skunks, and saw a couple of raccoons.
The past two nights it's been pretty cold here, 50ish, so I rode alone on our closest trail. Met a couple last night who had done a lot of touring including Australia, and the man had done 37 states. It was late, and started getting dark so I rode back to their car with them, chatting the whole time, it was such a pleasure sharing a ride with adults. This was actually my first cold weather ride, when I couldn't just wear shorts, but I was amazed how well the layering worked, especially given the wind chill. Tonite, was even colder, and the wind was pretty strong, I kept seeing lightning off in the distance, (a lake effect thing for those near the lake in Ohio). This was the first time I rode from my house to the trail, cutting through a cemetery on the way since it was dark when I left home. Most of the trail there was someone following me I could see by a light, I slowed down since it was so dark and I knew their was a curve with a hill coming up before crossing a street, so I slowed down, and the rider caught up. He was amazed to see someone else on the trail as was I so we rode and talked for awhile. Turns out he had bought his bike at the same place I had bought mine back in like 88. It's no longer there but we had a great time reminiscing (SP) over the store and our old bikes. Talked a lot about trails, bikes, and equipment, and look forward to meeting up and riding again. He just had to make a crack about my bio-pace triple, but that's OK, it has served me well, and it was light hearted since his had the same originally!!
LAST but certainly not LEAST. I am happy to say after quite a few years off my bike, I have passed the 1000 mile mark since getting back on a bike in July. I am kicking myself for not riding at all in all those years, and plan to make up for the loss big time in the future. Didn't think so a couple months ago, but 2000 miles by the end of the year, will be an easy goal to reach!
SO thanks for listening to my LONG winded rambling, but it's been that kinda week, and I just LOVE to share!
Next day we did the trail closest to our house. Took it South to an area we had never passed since I wanted to keep him off the hills for awhile. After passing the hills and a few busy intersections we ended up off in the "neighborhoods" which were well marked and part of the route. Again he was having a blast riding on streets, while I stayed behind him and to the left enough to be the target for moving cars and shielding him. Had to ride one 5 lane street, that was undergoing resurfacing and hadn't been striped yet. PLUS we had to do a left turn with no turn lane. I made sure before we entered the street that he knew what we were going to do, and that he pay explicit attention to my directions, he did and it went really well. It was such a glorious ride, not too hot, not too cool. Ran into one of the bike patrols and talked awhile, and headed for home. On the way through one of the neighborhoods, we were pulling up a hill towards a stop sign, when all of a sudden someone flew around a corner into a driveway narrowly missing little guy. I screamed at the top of my lungs and he stopped just as little guy got past the driver side of his bumper. The idiot never even looked back and just pulled into the driveway. I screemed as loud as I could telling my son, that's why we don't ride on the street, and that's the kind of ***hole you have to watch for constantly, really more for his benefit than for my son's. The guy's window was open so I'm sure he heard me, and he could have asked if he was Ok or something but chose not to. PIG.... son learned a vary valuable lesson, and short of a heart-attack on my part, was unscathed. By the time we made it back through the neighborhood it was getting dark and we hit the trail, and got off the street just in time. 30 miles round trip for the little guy, saw lots of deer, and a couple of possums, smelled a few skunks, and saw a couple of raccoons.
The past two nights it's been pretty cold here, 50ish, so I rode alone on our closest trail. Met a couple last night who had done a lot of touring including Australia, and the man had done 37 states. It was late, and started getting dark so I rode back to their car with them, chatting the whole time, it was such a pleasure sharing a ride with adults. This was actually my first cold weather ride, when I couldn't just wear shorts, but I was amazed how well the layering worked, especially given the wind chill. Tonite, was even colder, and the wind was pretty strong, I kept seeing lightning off in the distance, (a lake effect thing for those near the lake in Ohio). This was the first time I rode from my house to the trail, cutting through a cemetery on the way since it was dark when I left home. Most of the trail there was someone following me I could see by a light, I slowed down since it was so dark and I knew their was a curve with a hill coming up before crossing a street, so I slowed down, and the rider caught up. He was amazed to see someone else on the trail as was I so we rode and talked for awhile. Turns out he had bought his bike at the same place I had bought mine back in like 88. It's no longer there but we had a great time reminiscing (SP) over the store and our old bikes. Talked a lot about trails, bikes, and equipment, and look forward to meeting up and riding again. He just had to make a crack about my bio-pace triple, but that's OK, it has served me well, and it was light hearted since his had the same originally!!
LAST but certainly not LEAST. I am happy to say after quite a few years off my bike, I have passed the 1000 mile mark since getting back on a bike in July. I am kicking myself for not riding at all in all those years, and plan to make up for the loss big time in the future. Didn't think so a couple months ago, but 2000 miles by the end of the year, will be an easy goal to reach!
SO thanks for listening to my LONG winded rambling, but it's been that kinda week, and I just LOVE to share!