Friday, May 22, 2009

Nearly Killed At Village Creek Crime Scene

I had too much to get done this morning. By the time I was able to escape it was past noon. I was going to go to River Legacy Park to ride the mountain bike trail, but that would have taken too long, so I went to my nearest pedaling place, that being Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

When I was at Village Creek a couple days ago I was not pleased to find myself biking over the remains of a window. Likely a break-in theft attempt looking for valuables, which you are warned not to leave in your vehicle because there have been problems previously.

So much so that a pole with security cameras were added some time ago. The sign on the security pole says...

SECURITY NOTICE
PARKING AREA
SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
MAXIMUM ENFORCEMENT
OF ALL ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

The first time I saw this it just seemed real silly to me. "Enforcement of all illegal activities?" What does that verbiage even mean? And am I supposed to believe that someone actually monitors these cameras? If so, I've mooned that person a time or two, as I quickly change from biking shorts to non-biking shorts. I guess mooning the security camera must not be an illegal activity requiring maximum enforcement.

As soon as I stepped out of my van I saw there'd been two more windows broken. From the position of the glass I could tell they were side windows on the side not facing the street. Since there is nothing of value in my van, I left the window open today.

I had several "incidents" while biking today. First off groundskeeping crews were all over the place, trucks were driving the trail. They can be hard to get around.

Coming to the first bridge/dam I could see 3 bikers on the other side. I knew that by the time I was on the other side, they'd be coming down the hill fast towards me. I met the first 2 females with no problem, but the male behind them was looking at his odometer and heading straight at me at high speed. I had no room to maneuver out of his way. I hollered, he looked up and swerved, narrowly avoiding a head on collision.

About a mile after nearly being killed in a head-on bike wreck there was a group of 2 moms with 5 little kids. I hollered "coming up on you." The moms got all frantic, yelling at the kids not to move. I slowed way down, then, just as I got right to them, a little boy, who had only been paying attention to a spider, suddenly backed up when the spider moved towards him. I had to slam on the brakes or I would have hit the little guy.

The next weird thing is they'd been mowing the sides of the trail. This leaves some grass residue, which would likely desiccate and blow away within 24 hours. But, rather than let that happen, a person stands on the bed of a pickup, while the driver drives as the bed stander holds a leaf blower and blows some of the grass off the pavement.

I thought, why waste gas doing such a thing? Not to mention the pollution, both noise and air, that those air blowers put out.

So, that was my bike ride today. I almost died and I almost killed a little kid and I was at a crime scene where there is maximum enforcement of all illegal activities. It's been a good day in Texas.

5 comments:

  1. I would love to ride my bike daily, but here in West Texas, we have these things referred to as goat heads. Awful hard tire puncturing stickers. I know it may seem impossible to actually think a sticker can cause a flat, but it does. Any suggestions on how to FLAT proof my tires?..

    About today's post...tres fatalistic

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  2. I've had flats from the dreaded goat heads whilst biking in the Moab zone. I know of no preventive measure. I tried tubes that supposedly sealed against a puncture with green slime. They failed.

    Me? Wrote a fatalistic post? That's a first.

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  3. I'll try my best:
    "problems previously"

    "see 3 bikers on the other side. I knew that by the time I was on the other side, they'd be coming down the hill fast towards me."

    Predetermined possible problems? or proactive? Hard to say...

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  4. They make a solid rubber liner for inside tires. Call around. Might ask bike stores or bike repair shops in your local area.

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  5. I tried the solid tube. It was impossible to get it on the rim. I took it back and got a refund.

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