Sunday, July 10, 2005
McCormick Trail
This evening, I biked the McCormick Trail from where I live North to where it stops (Golf, as near as I can tell), then back South (Devon, as near as I can tell) to where it stops, and then back home. It was a lot of fun, and a great paved trail. There were a few other cyclists out there, some joggers, some dog walkers, and some kids - all easily negotiable. The most important thing, the cars were a blessed distance away from me. I'm still not used to people zooming about a foot from me at 45 mph. It was kinda short trail, but I liked it so much, I may try to come up with alternate ways of getting there so that my total trip can be longer than the 8.5 miles it was tonight. So, some things I learned this evening while biking:
Just when you get going uber fast on a long straightaway stretch with no one on it, you'll see a four year old dart out from some bushes in front of you and then have the presence of mind to play chicken with you. Avoid them. They are not worth 100 points.
Those fly/gnat things that have been dying on my doorstep and in my windows - they fly in swarms and will be happy to die on your face and arm while you are biking. Solution: put your head down and let them eat helmet.
When someone walking their dog obviously has the left lane of the bike path (they divide them into lanes, I think that's awesome) and you say, "on your right", they will still move to the left instinctually. Make sure to slow down next time, say "on your left" and thus avoid confusion and a possible mishap.
When passing a gaggle of teenage girls and you say, "on your left", sometimes they will respond in that snot nosed tone of voice peculiar to teen age girls, "Permiso, por favor! Coooonnnn permiiiissooo!" A funny thing to do is to turn around, pass them again, only this time say as you pass them, "Con permiso, por favor, a la izqierda." This will send two of the three into fits of laughter and will put a lovely color of red on the third's face. Every now and again this gringo can recall a few words from high school spanish.
Eastern European men will thank you profusely for not running down their two year old daughter who is playing the trail. They will thank you so adamantly and sincerely you will wonder how many daughters he has lost this way.
-R
Just when you get going uber fast on a long straightaway stretch with no one on it, you'll see a four year old dart out from some bushes in front of you and then have the presence of mind to play chicken with you. Avoid them. They are not worth 100 points.
Those fly/gnat things that have been dying on my doorstep and in my windows - they fly in swarms and will be happy to die on your face and arm while you are biking. Solution: put your head down and let them eat helmet.
When someone walking their dog obviously has the left lane of the bike path (they divide them into lanes, I think that's awesome) and you say, "on your right", they will still move to the left instinctually. Make sure to slow down next time, say "on your left" and thus avoid confusion and a possible mishap.
When passing a gaggle of teenage girls and you say, "on your left", sometimes they will respond in that snot nosed tone of voice peculiar to teen age girls, "Permiso, por favor! Coooonnnn permiiiissooo!" A funny thing to do is to turn around, pass them again, only this time say as you pass them, "Con permiso, por favor, a la izqierda." This will send two of the three into fits of laughter and will put a lovely color of red on the third's face. Every now and again this gringo can recall a few words from high school spanish.
Eastern European men will thank you profusely for not running down their two year old daughter who is playing the trail. They will thank you so adamantly and sincerely you will wonder how many daughters he has lost this way.
-R
3 Comments:
Is that the trail that goes by the sculpture garden? I always thought that looked really nice.
By 
Susie/Nueva Cantora, at
10:36 AM
In addition to the dogs:
--When you are in traffic, a pigeon or squirrel will suddenly run in front of your wheels and stop;
--You will thoughtlessly swerve left, directly into traffic, to avoid the thing;
--You will, should you survive, mentally kick yourself, ride on, and repeat the error a block later.
Susie,
Yes, in fact that is the trail with the sculpture garden. Well, some of them look more like piles of junk that someone called a sculpture, but that's art these days!
-R
