It would have been a rant.....
05-31-09, 09:47 AM
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Boomer
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It would have been a rant.....
I was looking forward so much to yesterday's ride. I had all of last week off as an unpaid furlough and planned on riding and riding and riding. Last weekend was taken up prepping the house and food for a large party that my wife planned before she got sick, so the first ride I got in was Tuesday. Then came the rains, cold heavy rains, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, finally ending early Saturday morning, so I was more than ready to ride.
Off I go..........this is good, I feel strong, the bike is operating perfectly............yeeesssss this is going great.
Why is the trail so crowded, it's worse than one of the ped holidays like Mothers Day. What are all those little "mail boxes" along side the trail? It's even more crowded. I'm being my usual polite self, "Good Morning" "I'll be passing on your left side" etc. It turns out that this is some sort of Parks and Rec outing or nature walk. Well, that's fine, this is a multi use trail and all that. After four miles I'm off onto an unpopulated side trail. That's more like it. It's gravel and traprock and mud and hills but there are no people so this is getting to be fun again. So much fun that I just kept going and going and going (That character is after all a Rabbit). On the way back I had to do those four miles again..........OMG, it was worse. Little kids on bikes with training wheels (on dirt) more than a mile from their car, crying and screaming......bikes laying in the middle of the 5 foot wide trail. On several occasions, I had to come to a complete stop and lean on my handlebars and wait while the adults herded the kids into some sort of motionless order untill I could pass. Sigh.
By the way, did I mention that about halfway through the ride I was on asphault for about 2 miles. Do I need to mention that a young girl pulled out of a bank driveway right in front of me as I screamed "Nnnnooooo".
Well, all of this was going to be a rant. But it's not going to end like one. Why? Because the sky was blue, the sun was warm and I was out on my bike. It was a good 27 miles and it took over 3 hours, but it was a bike ride with lots of challenges and skills to learn. Life is good.
Oh, by the way, to the one lady out there that I snapped at..........I really don't eat children..
Off I go..........this is good, I feel strong, the bike is operating perfectly............yeeesssss this is going great.
Why is the trail so crowded, it's worse than one of the ped holidays like Mothers Day. What are all those little "mail boxes" along side the trail? It's even more crowded. I'm being my usual polite self, "Good Morning" "I'll be passing on your left side" etc. It turns out that this is some sort of Parks and Rec outing or nature walk. Well, that's fine, this is a multi use trail and all that. After four miles I'm off onto an unpopulated side trail. That's more like it. It's gravel and traprock and mud and hills but there are no people so this is getting to be fun again. So much fun that I just kept going and going and going (That character is after all a Rabbit). On the way back I had to do those four miles again..........OMG, it was worse. Little kids on bikes with training wheels (on dirt) more than a mile from their car, crying and screaming......bikes laying in the middle of the 5 foot wide trail. On several occasions, I had to come to a complete stop and lean on my handlebars and wait while the adults herded the kids into some sort of motionless order untill I could pass. Sigh.
By the way, did I mention that about halfway through the ride I was on asphault for about 2 miles. Do I need to mention that a young girl pulled out of a bank driveway right in front of me as I screamed "Nnnnooooo".
Well, all of this was going to be a rant. But it's not going to end like one. Why? Because the sky was blue, the sun was warm and I was out on my bike. It was a good 27 miles and it took over 3 hours, but it was a bike ride with lots of challenges and skills to learn. Life is good.
Oh, by the way, to the one lady out there that I snapped at..........I really don't eat children..
05-31-09, 10:02 AM
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gone ride'n
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Sat was a great day to be out - we had that cold rian here all week as well. I was able to get a ride in on Tue & Thur morning between showers.
Sounds like your MUP is like ours. I can get on it about 3 blocks from my house and ride either east or west for miles. To the east it boarders a preserve that has a lot of lightly used MTB trails.
During the weekends when it is sunny I avoid certain popular parts of the MUP as it is 10 to 12 mph shouting "On your left" all the time and hoping that the idiots on roller blades with thier MP3 players blasting in thier ears will hear me. When I use the MUP at 6AM on the weekday mornings I can cruise in the low 20's and not have to dodge a sole just the occasional barricade.
Glad you made your peace with the challenges.
Sounds like your MUP is like ours. I can get on it about 3 blocks from my house and ride either east or west for miles. To the east it boarders a preserve that has a lot of lightly used MTB trails.
During the weekends when it is sunny I avoid certain popular parts of the MUP as it is 10 to 12 mph shouting "On your left" all the time and hoping that the idiots on roller blades with thier MP3 players blasting in thier ears will hear me. When I use the MUP at 6AM on the weekday mornings I can cruise in the low 20's and not have to dodge a sole just the occasional barricade.
Glad you made your peace with the challenges.
