Biking With Fallen Trees & No Zombies In Gateway Park

Handlebars Pointing at FWMBA Trail Sign

Today I decided to get my first Wednesday of June, mid-day endorphin fix by pedaling the Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association (FWMBA) Trail in Gateway Park.

I last biked at this location last Saturday, on the first day of June. At that point in time I found Gateway Park infested with Zombies.

Today the Zombie infestation was completely cleared out.

At some point in time since Saturday a tree has fallen across the FWMBA Trail, almost obliterating the directional arrow. I had been at this location previously so I knew which way to go, even if there was no arrow pointing the way.

I assume all the fallen foliage is wind caused, but, I do not recollect a strong wind blowing since Saturday.

I really don't think all this fallen limbage could possibly be Zombie related damage. However, this location is a very short distance to the west of where I came upon a Zombie attacking a water supply.

Despite the air being a bit humid, I had myself a really fine time spinning my wheels. Most of the trails are under the shade of big trees, which makes for cooler trailing than one is subjected to under the direct rays of the unshaded hot sun.

Speaking of the sun. I was up well before its arrival this morning. Which caused me to have a really fine time having a really long swim in the increasingly warm pool, very early this morning.

I just heard the lunch gong go off. I am fairly sure that lunch today is Jalapeno Cornbread Casserole, Rice, Chicken and some sort of Green Salad, the nature of which I am currently not remembering.

Today I Shared The Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail With A Lot Of Zombies

Today I expected to possibly see some Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association members working on Gateway Park's mountain bike trails, because I believe that a trail workday was taking place today.

But, I was not expecting the scene of utter chaos that greeted me today when I arrived  at Gateway Park to pedal my two wheel  mechanical transport device.

Upon arriving at the mountain bike trail parking lot I began to hear very loud rap music blaring from very big speakers, courtesy of a local radio station the call letters of which I do not remember, even though I heard the call letters called out a number of times.

As I was getting my bike out and ready to pedal I heard a blast of noise and saw a group of maybe 50, or more, people take off running in a tight group. I watched as the massed group was directed to enter the mountain bike trail.

This is not going to be a good bike riding day, I thought to myself.

When I got myself to the entry to the mountain bike trail I saw a big sign tacked to a tree that said "ZOMBIES" with an arrow pointing to the trail.

I pedaled along at my usual high rate of speed when I was suddenly startled by the scene you see above. A group of Zombies.

I stopped to ask what was going on. And if I could take a picture.

I was told this was a Zombie Run. That the massed groups of runners tried to get past groups of Zombies without the Zombies getting the runner's flag. If a runner made it to the end of the course with his or her flag still intact, this indicated the runner had won his battle against the Zombies. I have no idea what, if anything, the runner won for winning.

In addition to the Zombies there were hundreds upon hundreds of little red flags stuck in the ground. I assumed these were marking off the course. However, I saw a lot of the little red flags far past where I was seeing any Zombies.

All in all, today was one of the stranger mountain bike rides I've ever been on.

Zombie Problem In Austin Texas

The capital of Texas is having some sort of Zombie problem.

Sort of like the plot line of the current season of 24 on Fox, some sort of terrorist type pranksters hacked into the network that controls roadway warning signs in the Austin zone.

I don't know if a War of the Worlds Orson Welles type panic ensued in Austin, with people seeking escape from the Zombies.

I doubt it. Austin is a pretty sophisticated town, from what I've seen. I'm pretty sure most Austinites know there is no such thing as a Zombie.

Now if these terrorist type pranksters hack into the network that controls Fort Worth's roadway warning signs, with a Zombie warning, well, here you might have a few people panicking.

I remember when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas, February 1, 2003, the roadway warning signs had a message of the sort that would not have crossed my mind as possible til it happened. That event seems so recent, but it's already 2 days away from being 6 years ago.

If I remember right, an hour or so after the Shuttle disaster the signs said something like "Watch For Falling Space Shuttle Debris." I vaguely recollect seeing people looking up, watching for falling debris, long after the explosion. When people started finding pieces of the Space Shuttle is when the sign was changed to the message you see in the picture.

I found no debris, and unlike a lot of people I did not hear or see anything that morning. I was laying on the floor reading the paper and drinking coffee, totally unaware that something very bad was happening above me.