On the Path Again

July 8, 2012  PEDALS adventure:  The computerized weatherman  promised a day much cooler than the previous three days of 100+ temperatures:  highs only in the upper 80’s (it’s all about perspective).  So we knew this was our chance to get back outside again.   Tom proposed the St. Joseph pathway of the Rivergreenway by starting at Shoaff park, riding through IPFW campus, Johnny Appleseed park and towards downtown.   This path has a little bit of everything, street riding, sidewalk riding, dedicated bike path riding and a decent amount of nature.   What we didn’t account for was that nature was going to be ON the paths our bikes would take.

In a second post-Summer 2012  storm ride, we witnessed a lot more of the wind damage that was sustained by FW.  Trees were down all over and lots of small twigs and leaves cluttered many parts of the bike path, causing us to concentrate more carefully than usual on the bike paths so as not to lose our balance on the uneven path.   No major problems, just amazing sights of large limbs snapped off and huge trees totally uprooted.  We could see where trees had been laying across Spy Run Ave. extended and were still laying on some power lines.   But we could also tell much clean up had already gone on as large trees had been cut up, waiting for their leaves to die off, making them easier to move.      Shoaff Park is one of the designated drop off points for residents with tree limbs and the pile was huge with a steady stream of pickups and flat bed trailers coming to unload their limbs.

Tom talked me into this path because of it goes right past a Dunkin’ Donuts (different one from Wednesday’s ride) and we stopped there for a treat.  The sky was looking a bit menacing so we almost had to pedal on by.  However,  we kept an eye on the radar on Tom’s phone, and, as has been the case this summer, the rain dried up as it approached FW and we only had a few sprinkles.  

BTW, we ordered (and shared)  the new Oreo cream donut (on the advice of the DD counterhelp)….all I can say is YUM!  Now if we could just get a DD on the side of a lake or river, paddling could be so much better!

Ride stats:  12 m (RT), Time: 1 hrs. 22 min, ODO: 289 miles

Notable Nature Sightings:  About 2 minutes of light raindrops, enough to see as they hit  the river, but few enough that I could count them on my shorts.   This being the Summer Drought of 2012, raindrops ARE a notable nature sighting.