Having Myself A Mighty Fine Time In Arlington Biking The River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trails

Today I returned to River Legacy Park in Arlington for the first time since I got my bike's wheels rolling again.

Today also was the first time I've rolled my wheels on all the trails I used to roll my old bike on.

The couple times on the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails with my new bike I have avoided a long section of trail due to the fact that I had trouble on a couple of the climbs  with my old bike, as in trouble with the thing that holds the gear mechanism in tension going slack at the worst possible time, pretty much throwing me off the bike.

I'd been feeling very mountain bike worthy of late at Gateway Park, so today I decided to once again roll over the climbs that vexed me at River Legacy Park.

This was a good decision. I was surprised at how well the new bike handled that which the old bike balked at. At one point I made a mistake and took the wrong option at a junction, going the red arrow way, with the red arrow indicating the trails had an extreme challenge or two. It was at the bottom of an extremely steep drop I realized I was on an extreme trail. And then I was further surprised to find I was easily able to pedal up the next extremely steep climb.

This had me wondering if I am now able to handle the EKG and Fun Town sections. I tried EKG when it first opened, years ago, and quickly had to bail. Later I walked the EKG section and about had a heart attack due to the steep climbs and getting confused by the maze of trails.

When River Legacy Park first allowed the building of a mountain bike trail  the initial trail was a bit boring, few climbs and drops. It was one convoluted four mile loop. I would pedal the loop three times to get in 12 miles. It was sort of boring, twisting and turning and having to pay close attention to avoid hitting trees.

And now, years later I don't know how many loops have been added. Five? Six? Seven? There are loops off of loops. Loop bypasses. Loop connections where you can take a shortcut from one loop to another.

Several sections of new trails have been added since I last pedaled River Legacy. I have no idea how many miles of trail there now are. It would not surprise me if the miles totaled 20 or more.

And then there was the new signage, which you see in the photo at the top, where my handlebars are indicating, by pointing to the left, that that is the direction they wanted to go.  That would be the Prairie Loop to the left, with the Prairie Loop Bypass to the right.

Every few hundred feet there are the 911 signs you see in front of my handlebars. Each 911 sign had its own location identifier, as in the one above is PL 5, which I assume means Prairie Loop 5.

I have been on the River Legacy Park trails when an emergency medical team has been in the process of rescuing someone. Most notoriously a few years back in the aforementioned EKG section where a woman was injured due to wrecking on those treacherous trails.

These 911 signs seem to be a real good idea to me. The River Legacy Park mountain bike trail  system has grown so big, with so many junctions and trail options that I can see where it would be very difficult to explain to the 911 rescue people from whence you need rescuing.

More than once I have helped a confused hiker who found him or herself disoriented a few miles into the trails. Methinks it would be a mighty fine idea to add directional arrows pointing the direction back to the starting point parking lot. Useful both to bikers and hikers.

I suspect I shall be returning to River Legacy Park again soon. I have never seen the trails in such good shape. And the weather currently is being wheel rolling perfect. That will likely change in the near future...

Global Warming Has Me Swimming In February In Formerly Chilly Texas

Even though the outer world was only heated to five degrees above freezing, this morning, for the second morning in a row, I had myself a mighty fine time swimming in a slightly too cool pool, photo documented on the left.

Due to the pool being slightly too cool I did cycle in a couple hot tub hydrotherapy sessions.

I have not seen any info anywhere explaining what it was that was in the air yesterday which hugely diminished visibility for several hours. No reports of big wildfires or dust storms.

The reason a cool pool bout was doable the past couple mornings is because the average temperature for the past couple days has been well over 50, despite this morning dip to near freezing.

Today is supposed to be another warm one, if the temperature predictors are correct in their prediction.

So, with the sky being a clear blue and the outer world getting warm, I am heading to Arlington to River Legacy Park to attempt to roll my wheels on the mountain bike trail, start to finish, for the first time since I got a new bike.

By start to finish I do not mean all the trails. I stay off the scary sections that are beyond my pedaling capability.

Some Mysterious Force Left Me Feeling Powerless In Texas Today

Being powerless wreaked havoc with my finely tuned schedule today.

Before I became powerless I had a mighty fine time during my hot tub hydrotherapy session which became more of a cool pool session when I discovered the pool was no longer too cool to stay in it too long.

About a half hour before noon, about five minutes before leaving my abode, with the summit of Tandy Hills as my destination, the power went out.

As soon as I had a good view of the outer world I could see and feel what might be causing problems with the Texas power grid. As in, extremely windy with strong gusts.

As I was driving west on Bridge Street, at the point where the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth usually comes into view, today I saw nothing, due to a haze of smoke or dust or something else.

From the summit of Mount Tandy, looking west across the old wagon train trail which leads to where the west begins, that being the aforementioned downtown Fort Worth, you can see that the bevy of Fort Worth skyscrapers is ghosted out by whatever it was that was blotting out the sky.

Despite the questionable air that I was breathing I had myself a good time doing some high speed hill hiking.

After I finished with the hiking and drove back towards my abode I could see the power outage had spread, with more traffic lights not working and stores dark. I re-entered my abode about a quarter past one. I was hungry. I was not the only one who was hungry with no way to make lunch.

After many minutes of hemming and hawing I took off with a neighbor or two to Walmart to get ourselves picnic fixings so as to have a picnic lunch with the Indian ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I don't remember when I last had a picnic. Maybe it was way back in August of 2008, at Bay View State Park, in Washington. That picnic was not a good experience. Today's picnic was a good experience.

And when I got back to my abode the power was back on, which was also a good experience.

Where Is Fort Worth's Missing Forward Thrust?

Yesterday something had me wondering about something regarding the long dead Kingdome in Seattle in my old home state of Washington.

Googling led me to the Wikipedia article about the Kingdome which then led me to the Wikipedia article about elections which took place in King County, known as "Forward Thrust".

Seattle's Kingdome debacle was the biggest boondoggle I ever witnessed til I moved to the Boondoggle Capital of the World, Fort Worth, Texas. The Kingdome was one of the Forward Thrust propositions.

When I read the Wikipedia Forward Thrust article it brought to mind the bizarre Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price quote I read yesterday in the Star-Telegram, where Mayor Price informed us that the Trinity River Vision is extremely popular with most of the citizens.

I then asked if Mayor Price based this extremely popular comment on the overwhelming approval given by voters for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. And then remembered there has been no public vote on this public works project which has abused the legitimate concept of using eminent domain to take private property for the common good, leading to at least one business going under, that I know of, in the path of the un-funded, un-needed Trinity River diversion channel, which I learned yesterday will not begun to be dug for years, even if funding is found.

So, how come it is that a place like King County puts multiple propositions on a ballot, as in, in the 1968 Forward Thrust election seven of the twelve propositions passed, followed by another election in 1970 where four of the failed measures failed once again.

Now, why is it that citizens in a democratic part of America, like King County, are allowed to vote on multiple propositions, while voters in my current location on the planet are not allowed this democratic privilege?

There is an ironic comparison between one of the King County propositions and the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. The Forward Thrust Rapid Transit measure failed both in 1968 and 1970. The Rapid Transit measure failed even though Washington Senator Warren Magnuson had secured an almost $900 million federal funding earmark, with getting that money predicated on the King County voters voting to fund $440 million.

So, in Washington you had federal money already secured, with the public allowed to vote on the project, and voting no, while in Texas you have a project no one has been allowed to vote on, which has abused eminent domain, with over half the project's projected funding coming from federal dollars which have not been allocated.

And people wonder why I think the Trinity River Vision is a Boondoggle.

In Fort Worth's "Cultural District" there sits an old building. I think the name for it is Will Rogers Coliseum. The first time I was in this building it reminded my of my first school, Roosevelt Elementary, built soon after Teddy Roosevelt ceased being president early in the last century.

There is talk of replacing the decrepit Will Rogers Coliseum, which is where the rodeos take place during Fort Worth's Stock Show. But nothing seems to come of the talk. How come there is no noise made about possibly having Fort Worth's voters vote on a proposal to replace this aging structure? How come such votes do not take place here?

Does the Good Ol' Boy & Girl network that runs Fort Worth operate with no knowledge of how things are done in more progressive parts of the planet? The Trinity River Vision really is not that big of a project, compared with public work projects under way in other locations in America. How come the Good Ol' Boy & Girl network that runs Fort Worth does not understand that you don't start up something like the Trinity River Vision without having the funding mechanism in place?

I think it is fairly safe to predict that if those three "signature" bridges do get built they will be crossing dry land for a long, long time, with no flood diversion channel built under them.

Is it too late to put the TRV Boondoggle to a public vote? Or is it just known that the locals will not vote to tax themselves to build a Boondoggle of this sort?

But, remember the party line is that this project is extremely popular. And provides much needed flood protection. And economic development. If that is true, would not the voters be fools not to vote to fund this bizarre project to get it built as quickly as possible so the citizens can start enjoying this thing that is very popular with them.....

Rolling My Wheels At Gateway Park Again Before Leaving Town Talk With Way Too Many Dollars

Those are not my handlebars hovering above a green lake you are looking at in the picture.

Those are my handlebars hovering above a green Trinity River in Gateway Park you are looking at in the picture.

I had myself such a mighty fine time rolling my wheels at Gateway Park yesterday I decided to go for a repeat today.

As you can see clouds have returned to North Texas. Along with fog.

Yesterday's temperature was a record breaker at my location on the planet. I think 84 was the degree we reached. With so much warmth heating up the outer world I was able to have my first real swim of the new year, this morning.

After a few miles of rolling my wheels, since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to visit Town Talk. I got myself a few interesting items, such as sirloin burgers, a Cuban root vegetable called, I think, Malanga, garlic naan and chili sauce.

Checking out of Town Talk was an adventure today. The checkout lady forgot to clear the previous transaction. That added $234.63 to the $12.40 worth of stuff I bought. Neither of us noticed before the card was swiped. Unable to undo the transaction the checkout lady re-did my transaction, did the transaction like I'd given her cash in the amount of $247.03 and gave me the $234.63, in cash, that had erroneously been deducted from my card.

I am not used to paying for stuff the old-fashioned method, using actual money. I'll likely figure it out.

Betsy Price Thinks The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Is Extremely Popular Along With Other Nonsense

That is Clyde Picht you are looking at on the left. Clyde Picht is a former Fort Worth City Councilman. Clyde Picht showed up in a YouTube video I watched this morning, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in an article titled Fort Worth council OKs $6.63 million for Trinity Uptown bridges.

In the video Clyde Picht  opinionizes about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

The Star-Telegram article about the Trinity Uptown bridges is classic Star-Telegram propaganda, spewing the party line and doing no actual reporting of the journalistic sort.

For example.....

“It is a game-changer for Fort Worth,” Mayor Betsy Price said. “It changes the face of Fort Worth. It brings a whole new level of development downtown. It extends out to the north side and pulls those two areas together. It is extremely popular with most of the citizens.”

What is the "it" to which Mayor Betsy Price refers? The three bridges? Or the entire Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? That same "it" is extremely popular with most of the citizens?

How does Fort Worth's mayor know the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is extremely popular with most of the citizens? Does she know this because of the overwhelming approval given by the voters in a public vote for this public works project?

Oh, that's right, there has been no public vote for this public works project.

And then there is this gem....

The bridges are a beginning phase of the Trinity Uptown project, which includes creating a 1.5-mile-long channel of the Trinity River to form a 33-acre lake, an 800-acre island and waterfront development on the city’s north side.

The bridges are a beginning phase? The Trinity River Vision has been boondoggling since the start of this century and we are only now at a beginning phase? The 1.5 mile flood diversion channel forms a 33-acre lake? Didn't that 33-acre lake long ago shrink to being about a 12-acre pond?

And then there are the following two baffling sentences...

The vision depends on Congress to provide about half the $910 million needed to complete the project. Still, Price said, building the bridges first makes sense because it’s cheaper to build on dry land than on water.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle relies on federal money being provided to cover half the project's cost? That is some farsighted vision, basing a project on money that likely will not be provided. How would you sell Congress on voting to fund this boondoggle? A boondoggle touted partly as a flood control plan, which is not needed, because federal dollars and the Army Corps of Engineers built levees well over a half century ago which have prevented the Trinity River from flooding in the downtown Fort Worth zone for decades.

And Betsy Price parrots the party line with the it's cheaper to build bridges before you add water idea.

Elsewhere in the article Fort Worth's senior capital programs manager, Mark Rauscher, says the bridge projects are expected to go to bid in May, with construction starting in July, with bridge completion taking about three years.

Three years?

So, we are looking at 2017 as the earliest these three bridges will be crossing the non-existent flood diversion channel that is waiting for federal money before it can be dug?

And people wonder why I think the Trinity River Vision is a Boondoggle.

Below is the YouTube video I referenced above...

Enjoying 82 Degrees While Watching Fort Worth Fire Weather

We're having a heat wave, a Tropical Heat Wave.

Well, the heat is blowing in from the south, which is the direction of the Tropics, so I guess I may be using poetic license to call this hot 4th Tuesday of the 2nd month of 2014 a Tropical Heat Wave.

Based on the info gleaned from my computer based weather monitoring device I am thinking rather than a Tropical Heat Wave the proper name for today's weather condition is Fire Weather.

I do not recollect being on a Fire Weather Watch before.

It seems like only a week ago, give or take a day, that the temperature at my location on the planet was about 70 degrees colder than today.

I never got to experience these type weather swings during my years of living in Washington, where the temperature is always moderated by being so close to a big mass of water called an ocean.

Looking at the forecast it appears that the Fire Weather will likely be leaving by tomorrow, with the arrival of incoming precipitation in rain form,.

I like my precipitation coming in rain form, rather than frozen form....

Rolling Through Fort Worth's Gateway Park For My First Mountain Bike Ride Of 2014

I finally successfully managed to have myself a mighty fine time on a mountain bike ride for the first time this year.

On Sunday I had intended to go on a mountain bike ride on the mountain bike trails at River Legacy Park, but I was running late, so I opted to go to the much closer Gateway Park.

But, when I got to Gateway Park and pulled my bike out of the motorized bike hauling device I was appalled to find the rear tire flat again.

Unlike the previous flat, which lingered un-inflated for months, I had the needed repair material ready for another tube fix.

Somehow in addition to the big rusty nail which caused the previous flat there was also a tiny little prick of a thorn stuck in the tire, causing the new tube to go flat.

So, today I went back to Gateway Park and managed to successfully pedal the mountain bike trails, including rolling past the location of the big rusty nail that began all this flat tire trauma.

The Gateway Park trails are in great shape. Best I have ever seen them.

I saw some new signage today which perplexed me. That is the perplexing sign below. Note the arrow pointing the mountain biker to pedal to the left? That trail to the left only goes a short distance before running into Randol Mill Road, or whatever it is that Randol Mill Road is called on the north side of Gateway Park.

This trail spur goes about 30 feet then makes a steep dip and then a steep climb up to the road. And then goes where? I have no idea. This seemed a bit dangerous to me. The picture below shows you why this seemed a bit dangerous to me.

You can see how steep the trail is. And you can also see what you might run into if you pedaled fast enough to make it up that steep climb.

Obviously I did not follow the direction of the pointing arrow, instead opting to continue on the trail I've pedaled many times previous, leading to the cliff overlook you see in the first photo above.

I am not the world's most observant person. An example of this is the fact that in the past two weeks I have twice been up close and personal with my bike's rear tire. However, I did not notice until I was lubricating the chain last night, after fixing the flat, that the tread on the rear tire is worn pretty much bald. No tread. No traction providing nubs. Bald.

Why is the rear tire bald whilst the front tire looks new?

Very perplexing.....

A Tandy Hills President's Day Hike With A Toppled Hoodoo

I was back on the Tandy Hills today for my annual President's Day hike.

Hours before my annual President's Day hike I had my annual President's Day hot tub hydrotherapy session with the added bonus of having my first successful swimming pool bout of the new year, with two pool dips of duration long enough that actual swimming took place before escaping back to the warmth of the hot tub.

On my last visit to the Tandy Hills, two days ago, I came upon what I thought was Tandy Hills Hoodoo IV.

Tandy Hills frequent hiker Stenotrophomonas then informed that there had been rises and falls of Hoodoos that I had not seen, with Stenotrophomonas estimating that the Saturday Tandy Hills Hoodoo was Hoodoo number VIII or IX.

Well, whatever number that Saturday Hoodoo was, by President's Day it was a toppled Hoodoo, the remains of which you see above.

A forensic exam of a couple of the previous fallen Hoodoos made me think the destruction was manmade, due to the fact that the boulders from which the Hoodoos had been constructed had been thrown around, helter skelter.

A forensic exam of this latest fallen Hoodoo seems to indicate it toppled by natural means, with the boulders appearing in order on the ground, toppled likely by the means by which Stenotrophomonas thought the Hoodoos have toppled, that being either from the wind or fracquakes. We have had a lot of wind blowing lately. And fracquakes, though I don't know if any have shaken the Tandy Hills zone.

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine time on this mighty fine President's Day with about an hour of high speed hill hiking.

And now I am hungry.

My annual President's Day lunch is in the oven. Chile relleno casserole, corn bread with diced poblano, cole slaw and beans. Everyone knows this was George Washington's favorite lunch, hence it being on my President's Day menu....

Getting Drizzled While Learning About New Hoodoos & Contemplating My Non-Existent Rattlesnake Selling Business

I had had no weather predictor's prediction warning me, so it came as a surprise to step outside for my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session to find myself in a dense fog being pummeled by incoming drizzle.

I think the dense fog and drizzle added a nice moisturizing touch to the hydrotherapy session.

The fog and drizzle had lifted a bit by the time I took the photo you see here from the vantage point of my elevated patio view.

I am hoping the fog lifts and blue sky returns by the time I drive to River Legacy Park to pedal the mountain bike trail.

Speaking of trails. Yesterday I mentioned yet one more Tandy Hills Hoodoo resurrection. I thought this to be Hoodoo IV. I was not too surprised to hear from Stenotrophomonas that I was erroneous in my Hoodoo count.

Stenotrophomonas frequents the Tandy Hills far frequenter than I frequent them.

This is what Stenotrophomonas had to say....

Stenotrophomonas has left a new comment on your post "Another Saturday Tandy Hills Hoodoo Resurrection Before Going To Town Talk With Connie D":

I think that's at least Hoodoo VIII or IX. There's been several short lived hoodoos and then some modified ones. There was a hoodoo Thursday afternoon that may or may not have been exactly the one there Saturday. It's probably the wind, or maybe very small fracquakes that have destroyed most of the previous hoodoo incarnations. Surely if the Hills were full of mad Mormon scoutmasters, one of us would have caught them by now. 

Changing the subject from Stenotrophomonas and Hoodoos to rattlesnakes.

The  super-controversial Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup is next month. I won't be going. One visit was enough to last a lifetime.

Due to this being the Rattlesnake Roundup time of the year I am getting requests for rattlesnake products and other rattlesnake related questions. Why my Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup webpage causes people to think I sell snake products, I don't know. More often than not the requests for my non-existent rattlesnake products come from the UK or Germany.

This morning's attempt to buy one of my rattlesnake products came from a surprising location. Below is the message from a customer...

I am a skull collector looking to add a rattlesnake to my collection.  I would prefer to get a whole snake. Is it possible that one of the hunters would be able to send me a whole skinned snake. I would pay for shipping and all. You can e mail me or call me at 425.530.XXXX.

Area Code 425? Is that Houston I thought to myself. I then Googled "Area Code 245" to learn...

Area code 425 is a telephone dialing code in Washington for the suburbs north and east of Seattle, particularly the Eastside, extending east to North Bend, north to Everett, and south to Maple Valley. 

Washington? My latest rattlesnake customer is from Washington? Why could he not simply get on I-90 and head east to Eastern Washington and go hunt himself a rattlesnake?

I remember once when I was a young lad, my brother and I were exploring cliffs at Sun Lakes State Park in the aforementioned Eastern Washington. A park ranger showed up and advised my brother and me that we would be well advised to high tail it out of there due to the fact that the ranger had spotted several rattlesnakes a short distance from our location.

Til that moment in time my brother and I did not know that rattlesnakes were anything we might encounter in Sun Lakes State Park.

I wonder why no locale in Eastern Washington has a Rattlesnake Roundup? I suppose an insufficient supply of rednecks and an over supply of well-educated sorts with a high level of common sense might have something to do with there being no Rattlesnake Roundup in Eastern Washington.....