Meandering Around Gateway Park Looking Forward To My First Mountain Bike Trail Workday

On my way to Town Talk today I stopped at Gateway Park to meander through the seldom visited backwoods  zone of this very big, largely undeveloped, city park.

I came upon a plaque today whilst doing my meandering that informed me that Gateway Park opened in 1991. I first visited Gateway Park soon after I arrived in Texas, which would be 7 or 8 years after Gateway Park opened.

I can never remember what year, for sure, my exile in Texas began. Was it December of 1998, or was it December of 1999? One would think I would know this.

At the top of this blog it says I've been exiled in Texas since 1999. I think maybe my thinking that made me think that was I got to Texas about a week before Christmas, I think in the year of 1998, with the new year of 1999 beginning in just 2 weeks, I think that is why I say my exile began in 1999 because that marked the start of my first full year in exile.

Anyway, the first time I visited Gateway Park I entered the park from Beach Street, saw the boardwalk connected to the Trinity River, parked and walked the boardwalk. The Trinity River was running a lot of water at that point in time and in my newbie naivete I figured this was the river's regular state of water flow, with rapids.

The Gateway Park boardwalk was in fine shape the first time I saw it. At that point in time I did not know there was another, even more elaborate boardwalk, further down stream.

Part of the FWMBA Trail Workday Notice

And now, a relatively short time later, both boardwalks are boarded up eyesores with "CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC" signs.

The Gateway Park boardwalks may be rotting eyesores, but other parts of Gateway Park have been worked on, such as the miles of mountain bike trails that now meander through the Gateway Park jungle.

Today I saw a notice on the reader board that provides info about the mountain bike trail, with the notice informing me that there have been 2 Mountain Bike Trail Workdays that I have missed, with another one coming up on the first day of December.

The Trail Workdays are a FWMBA (Fort Worth Mountain Biker's Association) operation. According to the notice, apparently Phase 2 is off to a great start with over 1 mile of pure single track and a completely new 5 mile rideable loop. Lunch and drinks are provided to the workers on the workdays.

I need more specificity as to the exact nature of the food and drinks to properly motivate me to work on a mountain bike trail.

I have no idea if I have biked the mile of pure single track or the new 5 mile loop. I have biked, twice, what I thought was all the mountain bikeable trails that are in Gateway Park. Some of it is a little difficult for my diminished skill level. I easily could have missed a loop or a trail junction.

Town Talk was not its usual busy Saturday self today. I suspect shopper fatigue is the explanation.