Texas Adventure

Okay, so before I get into the story, I will let you all know that I am fine. I am sunburned with scratches and bruises, but am not bad off, all things considered.

This is how it happened.

A few of the younger moms in the ward like to get together for lunch on Thursdays, and yesterday I thought, hey, I will ride my bike to lunch. The weather has been cooler recently, and I would love to get a little exercise. So I left the house at 11:30 for the 12:30 lunch. I rode on main streets, including many with bike lanes, about 8 1/2 miles. So I am almost there, and am solidly in the gutter of the bike lane (about 3 feet into the bike lane) and this little black Honda is driving in the bike lane, and clips the mirror on my handlebars. Just barely, but it has me shaken. Keep in mind I wear a day-glo vest if I am riding on streets. But mom and I were talking last night, and she reminded me of the epitaph "Here lies the body of William Jay, who died maintaining his right of way. He was right, dead right, as he sped along. But he's just as dead as if he were wrong."

So with that fresh in my mind as I got on the main streets to go home at 2:00, I remembered a detour that I could take on a bike trail around the north side of the lake, that would take me straight home. No cars there, no risk of getting killed by crazy drivers, and I could take a great trail that I had read on the internet was good, and it was supposed to be a little shorter, too; but having not gone on the trail before, I wasn't sure where it started, and stopped by the park office before getting on it to make sure that I found the right trail.

A kind gentleman explained to me how to get to the trailhead, and which fork to take where, etc. I asked if it was a pretty challenging ride or if it was pretty simple, and he said, "You may have to walk your bike a little through the rough spots, but you should be fine." And according to the map and the guy, I would cut 2.5 miles off my ride had I taken the road route. He asked if I had water, and I said yes, and he said, "have a great ride!" This was about 2:30.

So I head off to the trailhead, where a dirt road goes, according to the guy, about a mile, then the next mile has some more challenging spots, and then the last mile is pretty simple, going back to a dirt road. So I get on the dirt road and ride - no problem on my bike. It is a little warm, but I have my water, and am doing well. Faster than I had thought I was riding, as a matter of fact, since the dirt road ended in about 5 minutes. That was my first clue that something with his directions was off. (his measurements, not the actual distance) But I was thinking, "he knows what he is talking about, and maybe it is just shy of a mile, and I am moving quickly because I am not distracted by the cars, etc., not to mention that I may have seen the time differently."

So I get on the trail portion of the trail, and about 50 feet in on the trail, I had to get off the bike and walk it, because it is such rocky and difficult terrain. I am thinking I am too far to go back and go on the roads, even though it is rough. And he had said it was a challenging ride for about a mile, so that would take me about 30 minutes if I hiked it, and then the last mile would be easy again. So I hiked. And thought. And hiked and hiked and hiked. Keep in mind I am wearing biking style shoes, not hiking boots or even socks that are long enough that my legs are covered. d'Artagnan - fortunately - takes the bus home, and at 4:30 I called the house to tell him I was on the trail, and should be home soon, but I would call if I needed him to call the neighbor lady to go pick up Rachel from play practice. I was still on the "challenging" part, and it wasn't looking any easier any time soon. But I knew that if I stayed with the fence on the right, and the lake on the left, then eventually I would get to the other side of the trail with the dirt road, even though I thought for sure I had gone off the trail and wasn't going to hit dirt road any time soon. I kept looking on the GPS on the phone to make sure I wasn't far off, and I wasn't.

So I kept hiking and pushing the bike. I had to stop several times - I ran out of water, and it was about 90 degrees, so I was trying to be careful not to go too hard and get heat exhaustion in my haste. The "trail" was so narrow in some spots I hit my leg on the pedals trying to stay on it. I didn't want to go off the trail, as it was sure to be more challenging off the trail than on, and who knows what kind of animals are off the trail?

Finally at about 5:50 I ran into the "last mile" dirt road. I called d'Artagnan and told him I would be home soon, and got on the bike and rode. For about 3 minutes to the park edge, where I rode another 15 minutes to get home. Normally the park to the house is about 6 minutes, but I was beat.

Anyway, I am burned to a crisp, and my legs are not pretty at the moment, and a 1 hour and 15 minute ride turned into a 4 hour and 10 minute ride/walk. I will say that Texas has some amazingly beautiful scenery. But I will NEVER go back on that "bike trail". I lived through it, sure, but I learned my lesson.