Sunday Wheel Rolling River Legacy Park With Fun Town Slow Pokes & Turtle Traffic Jams

I biked Arlington's River Legacy Park's mountain bike trails today, along with a lot of other wheel rollers.

In the picture on the left I have stopped for a hydration break at a trail junction. Usually at this location I opt to go left on the North Loop. Today I opted to take the bypass to the right.

Rather than riding all the loops today I decided to bypass the loops that are not all that much fun and re-loop the loops that are fun.

In the open zone of the Prairie Loop, where the trail is not very treacherous, I steered single-handed for a short distance whilst my other hand held the camera. In the video I mention having spent some time stuck behind a slow poke. At the point where the video ends a trio of new slow pokes passed me as I put the camera back in its protective cover.

The lack of rain has large sections of the trails cracking into pieces.  Those pieces make for an increased chance of suddenly losing control. It has been awhile since I've had a bike wreck. I'm due for one.

I had no problems today with a speed demon coming up behind me. Today I had multiple incidents where I found myself behind a slow poke, or a group of slow pokes, like the aforementioned trio consisting of two guys and a girl. I was an unnoticed 4th for quite some time,  listening to them chatter. Then one of them noticed me, apologized for holding me up and let me by.

About a mile later I was at the entry to Fun Town, contemplating the fact that I have yet to find the courage to enter  Fun Town, even after I was told by a pair of reliable sources that Fun Town really is a fun town, and without expert level difficulty, for the most part. It is the red arrow, meaning experts only, entry option to Fun Town which causes me hesitation. It is virtually vertical.

So, I'm standing there, hydrating and thinking about my Fun Town cowardice when suddenly the aforementioned trio of slow pokes showed up, rolling fast, with the two guys zipping down that vertical Fun Town entry, whilst the girl opted for the more sedate blue arrow entry.

Even with a demonstration of Fun Town's doability, I still opted out and continued on my way.

A couple miles later I was zipping along at high speed, made a tight corner, than had to slam the brakes. A dad with three kids were blocking the trail. The dad apologized for blocking the trail. I asked what they were looking at, which had one of the kids  moving out of the way of a BIG turtle, so I could see it.

Soon additional bikers showed up and halted. What's going on one asked. I said we have a wildlife in danger situation with a HUGE reptile blocking the trail. And none of us is brave enough to lift the turtle off the trail and send it on its way back towards the river.

So, this very muscular, heavily tattooed lady in colorful mountain bike regalia said something like clear the way, I'll take care of the problem. She proceeded to pick up the turtle and not too gently send it on its way.

All in all I had myself a mighty fine time rolling my wheels today....

Rolling Along Arlington's Village Creek With Indian Ghosts Picking Up Litter & Copperheads While Overlooking The Green Bayou

With today being Saturday, weather permitting, usually I end up at Town Talk after hiking up and down some Tandy Hills or rolling my wheels in Gateway Park.

Well, yesterday I Tandy Hill hiked and the day before I rolled in Gateway Park.

Today I opened my food cooling device to see I needed some vittles that I usually acquire at ALDI.

So, I decided to go biking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Above that would be my bike's handlebars next to a picnic table over looking the Village Creek Green Bayou Overlook.

Below you can walk with me to the Green Bayou Overlook via video.

Today's bike ride began with a little drama. As a young lady rolled towards me I could see she was a bit agitated. She stopped me due to thinking she needed to warn me that a large copperhead snake was slithering on the trail a short distance ahead of me.

I thanked her for the warning, then continued with my rolling. I saw no snake.

Earlier in the month I had a snake encounter on the middle of the Village Creek dam bridge.

Today on the dam bridge a man and woman were using a long pole with a gripper on its end to grip some of the litter that has piled up behind the dam bridge. I'd  never seen that happen before. The pair had filled a pair of large garbage bags with litter.

Since I have been in Texas I have rarely seen anyone but myself pick up litter. And today it happened twice.

As I exited the Albertsons parking lot to turn on to Boca Raton Boulevard I saw a woman picking up some of that litter I mentioned a couple days ago that was littering the route I walk to Albertsons. The woman seemed to be selective about the litter she was selecting, as in it seemed from what I saw that it was cans and bottles which were being selected.

In the below video, in addition to my James Earl Jones-like narration, you can hear cicadas make their jungle drum noise. Is there anyone who does not like the singing cicadas?

Water Returns After Drying Up In Dalworthington Gardens Pappy Elkins Lake No Thanks To XTO Energy

Last night I got around to reading this week's Fort Worth Weekly.

This week's Fort Worth Weekly cover story is about a subject about which I have had some in person experience, and about which I have blogged multiple times.

That subject is the XTO Energy gas drilling site on the shores of Pappy Elkins Lake in Dalworthington Gardens.

The cover article is titled DRYING UP IN DWG with a sub-title of Water and facts have a way of getting lost in Dalworthington Gardens.

The "facts have a way of getting lost" part of the title and the fact that one key fact was not factual, according to what I saw with my own eyes last month, is a bit ironic.

The drying up referred to in the title is in reference to the claim that Pappy Elkins lake had shrunk from being a lake to being a puddle.

Well.

Friday, June 27 I was in Arlington, walking around Veterans Park. An extremely loud noise was coming from the direction of the XTO Energy site by Pappy Elkins Lake. So, after I was done walking I drove to Pappy Elkins Lake to the site of the XTO Energy site to turn off my engine and listen.

No noise.

And Pappy Elkins Lake looked no different than the first time I saw it way back on Sunday, October 24, 2010.

I assume the heavy rains last month re-filled Pappy Elkins Lake

Many Dalworthington Gardens locals believed the missing water was due to XTO Energy sucking the water out of the lake to frack its well. Well, wells.

The FW Weekly article claims there have been 11 wells drilled at the Pappy Elkins location. How is that even possible? I recollect the original drilling and a followup appearance of the drilling rig, just like what happened when Chesapeake Energy moved into two locations in my neighborhood.

Those who blame XTO Energy for a host of woes, including missing water, formed an organization calling itself Pappy Elkins Restoration Group, aka, PERG.

Among the many things which upset PERG is the apparent fact that when the permission was first granted to poke a hole in the ground beside Pappy Elkins Lake XTO Energy said they would not be asking to use the lake's water. Then after the hole was drilled XTO changed its mind and asked DWG's city government for a water sucking permit, with the expected approval of TCEQ.

Permission was granted to remove 3.2 millions gallons for the first well. By 2010 XTO Energy claims to have used 10.8 million gallons to frack three wells.

I do not do well at math, but if by 2014 there have been 11 wells drilled at this site does this mean that over 33 million gallons of water have been used to do the fracking?

On the left you are looking at the first XTO Energy Pappy Elkins drilling operation, with the tower hovering above the apartment complex to the east of Veterans Park.

I remember when I first saw this I was appalled, because it looked as if this was right amongst the apartments, which is what led me to find out where it actually was. That had me walking through the apartment complex, which had me meeting some upset residents, which I then wrote about in a blogging titled Finding Wildscapes Under A Barnett Shale Drilling Operation In Pappy Elkins Park In Dalworthington Garden.

If you go to the Finding Wildscapes link above you will see what the XTO Energy Pappy Elkins site looked like back in 2010. At that point in time, adjacent to the drilling tower was a Dalworthington Gardens Wildscape garden. That garden is now totally gone, covered over by the XTO operation.

The FW Weekly article makes mention of other things that don't match what I have seen. For instance mention is made of a baseball field and park on the north side of the lake, which the city allowed XTO to take over to install wastewater storage tanks. Back in 2010 I did not notice a baseball field or park and in June I did not notice any storage tanks.

Then again, at that point in time I had no reason to look for storage tanks or a missing baseball field.

I used Google Earth to do a closeup flyover of the site and could not find anything which looked like an old baseball field or storage tanks. I'm not suggesting FW Weekly made a mistake, I'm just saying I never saw these things, just like I never saw the lake looking like a puddle.

Mention is also made of a nearby school. I do not know where that nearby school is. I have not seen it.

In the Fort Worth Weekly article there is absolutely no mention made of the residences closest to the XTO Energy Pappy Elkins drilling operation, that being the apartment complex I previously mentioned.

Why in the world did Dalworthington Gardens allow drilling to take place at this location? No wonder the locals are upset and have PERGed.

11 wells drilled at that location? Can anyone make sense of that for me?

Today On The Tandy Hills I Forded A Flooding Tandy Creek Before Finding A Log Sticking A Giant Tire

In the last couple days Stenotrophomonas has made mention of a new thing or two on the Tandy Hills.

Things like a pipeline construction project with HUMONGOUS pipes, lots of heavy equipment, a widened section of the Tandy Highway, shiny new manhole covers and a new piece of Tandy Hills art in the form of a giant tire being pierced by a log.

Stenotrophomonas did not mention that the North Fork of Tandy Creek is in flash flood mode. I am guessing the flood started flashing since the last visit from Stenotrophomonas.

A video of the Tandy Creek flash flood is below, narrated with my James Earl Jones-like narration. But, first the new work of Tandy Hills art.

The giant tire is located on the north side of the South Fork of Tandy Creek.

As I walked past the giant tire I eventually came to that which Stenotrophomonas has made mention of, such as the widened highway and a chunk of giant pipe or culvert or something.

You can see a small slice of the widened Tandy Highway behind the big chunk of metal. To the right, up a hill, I saw heavy equipment doing what heavy equipment does and making a lot of noise doing it.

I had myself a mighty fine time walking on the Tandy Highway today. I did not make it to the Hoodoo zone.

Below is the aforementioned video documenting today's flash flood of Tandy Creek's North Fork....

I Don't Think I Will Ever Get Maxed Out Riding Arlington's Public Transit To The Dallas Cowboy Stadium

Last week, the day before I drove to Arlington to watch the USA team get beat by Belgium in the Dallas Cowboy stadium I blog my lament about not being able to take any form of public transit to the Dallas Cowboy stadium.

That lament had someone calling him or herself Anonymous making a blog comment informing me that I could have used public transit to get within walking distance of the Dallas Cowboy stadium......

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I Won't Be Pedaling The Cowtown Cycle Party To Arlington To Watch The USA Beat Belguim Today":

You could have gotten off of the Max bus at Collins and Andrews. It would have been a 10 minute walk to the stadium.

When I read the above suggestion from Anonymous I vaguely recollected reading about a new bus service in Arlington that was some sort of limited test type deal.

Googling brought me to the RIDE THE MAX website, a screencap of which is what you see above.

From the RIDE THE MAX website I learned that ".....for a roundtrip price of $5/day (or $80/month), Metro ArlingtonXpress buses will travel between the TRE CentrePort/DFW Airport Station and College Park Center at UT Arlington. From CentrePort/DFW Airport Station, riders access any DART bus or train or T bus to travel to Dallas or Fort Worth."

So, for me to take public transit to get myself to the Dallas Cowboy stadium I would need to figure out which Fort Worth T buses I needed to get on to get to the CentrePort DFW Airport Station where I would then get on a MAX bus which would then take me to the intersection of Collins and Andrews from whence I could take a brisk 10 minute HOT walk to the stadium.

Or, I could drive about two miles from my abode, to the Richland Hills Trinity Railway Express station and hop a train which would take me to CentrePort where I could get on a MAX bus to get to the point where I take a brisk 10 minute HOT walk to the stadium.

I am assuming that I would need to pay to ride the Fort Worth T bus or the TRE to CentrePort, adding to the $5 roundtrip MAX fare.

I don't think I burned $5 worth of gas driving to Arlington to watch the World Cup last week.

So, this method of getting oneself to the Dallas Cowboy stadium from my location in Fort Worth is what Anonymous thinks is functional public transit?

I have been in towns with functional public transit. I know what functional public transit is. You can use functional public transit to easily get yourself from one location to another. The town to the east of Fort Worth, called Dallas, has functional public transit in both bus and light rail form. Soon one will be able to take a DART train to D/FW Airport.

Vancouver, up north in this country called Canada, has a very cool public transit system called SkyTrain. You can get on SkyTrain south of Vancouver and have yourself a mighty fine ride into town, where you can hop on a seabus, included in your fare, and cross some saltwater to North Vancouver. And a SkyTrain line runs to the Vancouver airport.

Portland, in Oregon, has a light rail system which runs all over town, including the airport. If I remember right, and I am fairly certain I do, the Portland light rail is called the MAX.

Seattle, in Washington, has light rail known as the Link, which takes you from the downtown Seattle transit tunnel to the airport. Buses also travel through Seattle's downtown transit tunnel, with those buses taking you to locations all over Seattle, and beyond.

Unlike Arlington, one can easily take public transit in both rail and bus form directly to the sports facilities in downtown Seattle. You don't get dumped off a 10 minute walk from the Seahawk Stadium or the Mariner's Ballpark.

The video below, which I took in August of 2008, should give Anonymous an idea of what actual functional public transit looks like. First I walk across Westlake Center, which is Seattle's version of Fort Worth's Sundance Square Plaza, only bigger and surrounded by big stores, like Nordstrom. I then walk into Westlake Center, which is a vertical  mall and the south terminus of the Seattle Monorail. I then descend to the Westlake Center transit station. There you will see the transit tunnel which runs under Seattle. Near the end of the video I exit a bus and you will see a long line of buses, filled with fans heading to a Seattle Mariners game, with no 10 minute walk needed, just an escalator ride to the street level.....

Wondering Again Why Fort Worth Does Not Vote On Public Works Projects While Other Towns Do

No, on the left you are not looking at an artist's rendering of the little lake envisioned in the Trinity River Vision Panther Island Boondoggle.

The size of the lake and the mountains in the distance likely clued you that this is not a view of anything Fort Worth related.

What you are looking at is the new floating bridges crossing Lake Washington, connecting Seattle with towns to the east, like Redmond, where Microsoft lives.

That is an East Link light rail train you see on the north floating bridge. The East Link is part of a $2.5 billion project, one of America's largest and most expensive transit expansions.

Meanwhile in Fort Worth the TRVPIB may soon start building its three non-signature bridges to nowhere, built over an imaginary flood diversion channel for which there is no funding to build.

I don't believe anyone in the Seattle zone has the hubris to refer to the above bridges as signature bridges, even though they are quite unique, with something like 4 of the world's 5 biggest floating bridges doing their floating over water in Washington.

Now, where am I going with this?

Well, yesterday something had me reading the Wikipedia article about Venice. That somehow had me going to the Wikipedia article about Seattle, in which I found the following paragraph interesting when it occurred to me that I would read nothing of its kind if I read the Wikipedia article about Fort Worth....

Seattle has started moving away from the automobile and towards mass transit. From 2004 to 2009, the annual number of unlinked public transportation trips increased by approximately 21%. In 2006, voters in King County passed proposition 2 (Transit Now) which increased bus service hours on high ridership routes and paid for five Bus Rapid Transit lines called RapidRide. After rejecting a roads and transit measure in 2007, Seattle-area voters passed a transit only measure in 2008 to increase ST Express bus service, extend the Link Light Rail system, and expand and improve Sounder commuter rail service. A light rail line from downtown heading south to Sea-Tac Airport began service on December 19, 2009, giving the city its first rapid transit line with intermediate stations within the city limits. An extension north to the University of Washington is under construction as of 2010; and further extensions are planned to reach Lynnwood to the north, Des Moines to the south, and Bellevue and Redmond to the east by 2023. Mayor Michael McGinn has supported building light rail from downtown to Ballard and West Seattle.

Read the above and make note of how many times this century Seattle and King County voters have voted on various transit measures, funding various transit projects. If I remember right the vote that resulted in Seattle's first rapid transit line took place in the 1990s.

Also in the 1990s Seattle voted five times on a measure to extend the Seattle monorail. The first billion dollar measure passed. But some voters did not like the plan. So another measure was put to a vote and then another and another and another and finally the monorail extension was killed, replaced by the Link Light Rail, which now seems obvious to most everyone is a much better idea than extending the monorail.

Now, isn't it interesting how a town like Seattle puts public works projects to a public vote and thus secures funding, which results in completed projects, some of which have been voter approved and completed during the period of time the Trinity River Vision Panther Island Boondoggle has been dithering along, with no public vote.

Is it even legal in Washington to have public works projects which the public has not approved of by voting?

It's likely not a legal issue which has the public voting on public works projects in Washington. It is likely more of a common sense type deal.

As in, if a public works project is legit and will benefit the public, the public can be sold on the benefits of the project and will agree to be taxed to fund the project.

The cabal which runs Fort Worth knew its bizarre economic development plan could not be approved by any sort of public vote. Such a measure would not stand the scrutiny of an actual election campaign where actual legit questions would be asked and need answers before voters would vote to approve.

Questions like how can this be a flood control project when the area of the project has not flooded in over a half a century, kept dry after massive levees were built to contain the Trinity River as it passes downtown Fort Worth?

How could approving to fund the flood diversion channel be given a go ahead by voters when to this day there is no engineering plan in existence as to how the flooding water is to be diverted and how much the mechanism to do so is going to cost to build?

Would the voting public have voted yes for an economic development project disguised as a public works project when that project required using eminent domain to take the property and livelihoods of dozens upon dozens of their fellow Fort Worthers?

Anyway, methinks the only way the Trinity River Vision Panther Island Boondoggle can ever actually be something someone can see is if the project is legitimized by being put to a public vote resulting in the public agreeing to be taxed to fund the project because the public sees the project will greatly benefit everyone.

I know snowballs chance in hell that will ever happen.......

A Close Encounter Of The Snake Kind In Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area

I needed to replenish my much needed milk supply. With ALDI being my milk supplier and with ALDI being a short distance from Arllington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area I decided to roll my wheels with the Indian Ghosts before getting milked at ALDI.

I was not long into my bike ride when I got an adrenalin boost due to a snake encounter.

I roll at high speed when I reach the part of the paved trail which crosses the first dam bridge. It's a fast slope downhill, then across the dam bridge and then a fast slope uphill.

As I got to the dam bridge I saw a big snake snoozing in the middle of the trail. I had about 2 seconds to ascertain the snake had a diamondback pattern. When I met the snake in the middle of the dam bridge I figured it'd go right as I passed. Instead the snake quickly slithered left, across my path.

Due to seeing the snake had a diamondback pattern my neurotic fear of snakes quickly had me thinking rattlesnake. A second later the rational part of my thinking realized the snake with the diamondback pattern did not have a rattlesnake type head or a rattle on its tail.

The cicadas chirping and birds tweeting had the Village Creek zone seeming very jungle-like today. I decided to see if I could roll wheels and video at the same time. I have just YouTubed the result. For about 5 seconds all is well, you can hear cicadas,  birds tweeting and my fascinating narration.

And then when I pick up speed the resulting wind noise starts to sound like thunder. However, the video does give you a good idea of what biking with the Indian Ghosts is like in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I wonder if my digital camera in video mode has a wind noise suppression option like my antique analog video camera did?

The Popular Texas Sport Known As Littering Is Freshly Perplexing Me Today

Early yester evening I walked up my neighborhood hill to Albertsons. I noticed that the usually heavily littered route had been de-littered, for the most part.

And now, today, I walked up my neighborhood hill to Albertsons again, to get chicken, to see that which was de-littered yesterday has once again been re-littered.

Why is littering such a popular sport in Texas?

In the litter picture above we are looking east, towards Dallas. My neighborhood Chesapeake Energy gas pad site is at the top of the hill, on the left. The aforementioned Albertsons is across the street, on the right.

How can this much litter show up overnight, even in Texas, where littering is such a popular sport?

I remember the last time I drove back to Washington, early August of 2001, by the time I got to Colorado I started noticing how much less litter there was laying and blowing about. And how sparkly clean everything looked.

The entire way to Washington was pretty much free of Texas-style litter.

When a Texan leaves Texas and finds him or herself in some place like Colorado does it seem to the Texan that something seems to be missing? As in, where has all the litter gone?

Maybe the Don't Mess With Texas anti-litter campaign was not clear enough in its message. Maybe the message should be more direct, something like Don't Litter You Lazy Slobs.

Yes, I am sure that would be effective and much more easily understood.....

The First Sunday Of July With A Big New Hoodoo On The Tandy Hills

The first Sunday of July's Tandy Hills Hoodoo may be the best Hoodoo erection yet erected on the Tandy Hills.

It certainly is one of the most precarious looking Hoodoos. And one of the tallest.

Today I switched my camera to video mode and aimed it at the Hoodoo. I just got notified by YouTube that the Hoodoo video is ready for the publish button to be hit. I will do so and copy the embed code below.

But first I must share something from Stenotrophomonas.

Stenotrophomonas and I were discussing the history of the Tandy Hills. Stenotrophomonas said that dirt bikers used to dirt bike on the Tandy Hills. I asked if that is where the trails came from. Stenotrophomonas then sent me an interesting article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives from Thursday, February 18, 1999....

On foot in the park - Police enforcing new signs banning bicycles, vehicles in Tandy Hills 

The signs are now explicit: "Foot traffic only. No Bikes, Horses or Motorized Vehicles."

But even with the new signs and barricades that went up Friday at Tandy Hills Park, police ticketed two people over the weekend when individuals moved aside barriers to drive inside. 

Police will continue to patrol the east Fort Worth park closely until they feel the public understands that bicycles and vehicles are prohibited in the park, said Clint Hall, Fort Worth park and community service officer.

For years, Tandy Hills , a remnant prairie where wildflowers bloom profusely each spring, has served as an occasional playground for four-wheel-drive vehicles that have illegally left eroding ruts. 

But the bike paths were a surprise. 

Attention was drawn to the park more than a month ago when neighbors discovered someone had illegally cut almost three miles of bicycling paths through the nature preserve with a weed trimmer. 

"I can't believe we did not know this was happening until a month ago," said Gay Perry, who heads the West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association. 

Although only one individual is thought to have done the cutting, word spread quickly on the Internet that good biking trails could be found at Tandy Hills . 

Some of the bicyclists who said they did not know riding there was illegal criticized the city for not posting appropriate signs, city officials said. 

Wayne Clark, who supervises Tandy Hills and the Fort Worth Nature Center, said the city must share some of the responsibility because of the lack of signs. 

Until the signs were posted, police issued only warnings when they caught bicyclists in the park. 

Ten signs have been erected at the front of the park and at several side and back locations where vehicles and bicyclists are known to enter. In addition, the wooden barricades will remain until something more permanent is set up. 

Next week, the Texas Department of Transportation is expected to erect posts and cables across one entrance along Interstate 30. 

"We are trying to get people to listen and know there was a problem out there," said Nel Konkle, field operations supervisor for east Fort Worth parks. "I think the numbers have decreased a little, but they are still out there - the really brave ones."

Hall said he hopes the continued police presence will help. 

Citations issued are for a Class C misdemeanor with fines of up to $500. 

_______________________________________________

Someone made three miles of trail on the Tandy Hills using a weed trimmer? I have been all over the Tandy Hills and can not imagine where someone could trim weeds to make three miles of bike trails.

Anyway, below is the aforementioned video of the latest Tandy Hills Hoodoo. It was suggested yesterday that Jame Earl Jones narrate my videos. James Earl Jones was not available, so you're stuck with me.....

Rolling My Wheels In Fort Worth's Gateway Park Before Getting Peppered At Town Talk

I went rolling on the Gateway Park mountain bike trails today for the first time since the rains of June.

In times past at my favorite Gateway Park photo opportunity location my inferior photographic skills have thwarted my attempts to successfully capture on film, I mean, digitally, the steep precipice the mountain bike trail suddenly comes to without warning.

Today I took video of my favorite Gateway Park photo opportunity location. That video is currently being processed by YouTube, so I don't know yet if the YouTube version successfully depicts the Trinity River cliffs. The un-YouTubed version I saw on my computer did successfully depict the cliffs.

Well, YouTube has just let me know that the video has been processed and is ready to be published. I hit the publish button, copied the embed code and stuck the video below.

But, before you get to that I must make my semi-regular Saturday Town Talk report.

Town Talk was not a traffic jam today. So, I was in and out fast, with a couple bags of artisan buns, a big bag of sweet red, orange and yellow mini-peppers, ground turkey, ancient grains granola, extra sharp white cheddar, tomatoes, celery and other stuff I am currently forgetting.

What I am currently remembering, due to all this food talk, is I have not had lunch, coming up on 2 in the afternoon. I must address this issue immediately....