I believe the temperature was in the low 90s when I started pedaling. A breeze and shade made for pleasant pedaling, until I'd stop pedaling to consume some H2O or take a picture, or both.
Stopping pedaling quickly starts the steam bath phenomenon. I try and make my stops brief.
In the picture, due to my inferior photographic skills, you can't really tell that my handlebars are on the FWMBA Trail, with one of the Gateway Park paved trails to my handlebar's right, with a wooden bridge visible in the upper right.
I don't know the cause, maybe it was watching the video I blogged about a couple days ago, part of which showed a Copperhead snake encounter on the mountain bike trail in River Legacy Park, but today I have been being spooked by tree roots. On my way to the pool this morning I reacted to a tree root I've seen many times, thinking, for an instant, it was a snake.
Today, whilst pedaling through the Gateway Park woods, the snake root spook reaction happened multiple times. This sort of got on my nerves. Maybe I had a bad snake nightmare last night that I'm not remembering consciously.
Changing the subject from snakes to Smart cars.
I see a Smart car almost every day, parked by Albertson's. That Smart car has a personalized license plate. SMART. Why would someone want a personalized license plate that is the name of your car? Is that smart?
I have no idea what my license plate's combo of letters and numbers is. If it were SMART I'd be able to easily remember it.
I think I'll go Smart car shopping now.
Hey, Durango,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I love the idea of fewer fill-ups, I don't know if SMART cars would be so smart on these Metro-Mess highways. Accidents every day - and from what I've seen, that hospitable Texas nature is suspended while driving! Since moving here, I've been totally shocked by the utter disregard people have for their fellow humans. And I'm used to driving in LA and the Bay Area!
With regard to today's handlebar centerfold at Gateway Park, there is just enough of that paved trail to entice a humble foot traveler - I will check it out. After I pick up anti-venum at WalMart.
Thanks for that dizzying trail video with the snake attempting tire murder - I went running last night and was so spooked by the silhouette of every branch on the ground that I nearly fell when a toad jumped in my path.
Oh, I forgot to metion the other day that your nephew is one handsome little dude!
Lastly, the heat is not killing me anymore. Thanks, Durango!
Howdy Marie----The Smart cars have something like 8 air bags and the same type cage protecting design used in race cars. I think it'd be scary to drive one of those teeny cars on a freeway. Seems like the wake behind a semi-truck might blow it off the road.
ReplyDeleteDWT's, as in Driving While Texan, are a bit unsettling. I learned years after first experiencing the bad Texas driving, from Gar the Texan, when he first learned of the concept of 'free right turn' while in Germany, that this is not taught to Texans taking a driving school class. Hence the utter befuddlement of Texans at 4 way stops.
Gateway Park's trails are a good thing. Except the city does a bad job of upkeep. They've let the very cool boardwalks go bad. They've not repaired flood damage from Hurricane Hermine. Gateway is where Fort Woof is, if you have a dog and wanna take the barker to a very nice dog park.
You sure are getting around this metro zone. Up to Denton, east to White Rock Lake. Did it sorta remind you of Green Lake in Seattle? White Rock Lake is a fun place to pedal around. And when we are in flood mode that waterfall by the dam is pretty cool.
I thought that video of those guys being stopped by the tire biting snake was pretty funny. I stay out of that part of the River Legacy Park trails after my one and only very unpleasant time in there. It looks like a snake zone with all the green swamps.
Spencer Jack is a little cutey. I last saw him in March in Arizona. At that time he made me a piece of artwork for my fridge. It made it back to Texas where it remains magnetted to the fridge. Spencer has his own digital/video camera. And his own computer password login. I just posted a pic of Spencer taking video of my sister's backyard waterfall. Where did I post that? Can't remember. Oh. Facebook. Facebook and Twitter. Two things I don't understand why they are so popular.