The Tale of the Trails

Date: Nov 2 Sun
Weather: 70F,
Mileage: 26
November mileage: 73
Year to date: 2546

After yesterday's excellent journey, this afternoon called for a different kind of experience. I spent 3 hours this morning cleaning the newly-completed kitchen. If I had a camera I would post some pics. Now that the tile is in, I had to clean windows, baseboards, walls and finally the floor, the latter on my hands and knees. It looks spectacular and will be even better when the furniture comes on Wednesday. After cleaning I took a break, ate some lunch and watched Real play a very mediocre game to a 1-1 draw at Almeria. That's a team that lost 5-0 to Barca last week if that is any type of comparison.

As for the ride I chose the Crosscheck b/c instead of a big road ride, I decided that a mixed-use trail ride would suffice for some afternoon fun. I would use the CC to connect a variety of east end trails for a good workout, albeit not a suffer fest so as to give the legs a bit of a rest after yesterday.

I headed towards Seneca and entered trail #1, which is a short-n-sweet connector trail near the T at PeeWeeReese and SenecaPk Rd. It's only .1m or so, but skirts Beargrass Creek a short bit, making for some attention to detail so I didn't make my trail ride a bikenswim. I immediately noticed that the CC needed more attention as well. I can't exactly describe ride qualities like they as Bicycle Quarterly fame, but generally my smallish frame has lots of wheel flop. With the addition of the Ritchey Crossmax tires- with their squarish design- it makes me think I'm going to fall over in every corner, at least for a while until I get back in tune with the mount.

A short jog west brought me to trail #2, which is the mtbike trail following along the western edge of Seneca golf course. I've taken in this trail quite a few times; today wasn't my best. I was overgeared and bogged down early on and had to stop. I stopped 2x to let mtbikers by; they hopefully had more flow than I. That said, I enjoy this section of twisty track. The trail then edges the course for a while before diving back down the hill and through the woods. There is a substantial man-made log crossing that I walked over, not wanting to imploded the CC with anything too gnarly. The trail then snakes along the northern edge of the course and crosses I-64 on an old bridle bridge. At this point I experiences a veritable traffic jam. I passed a cyclist going my way and then another the other way. I then had to avoid a young female jogger. Around the bend I encountered a mother and son, and just down the trail another female jogger and then the dad and son pair who I'm sure was with other. This is all in about 20yds tops and on a trial that is 5ft wide at absolutely most. Eeks. I tried to be courteous and cautious; there is no use ruining someone's afternoon being too macho.

Trail #3 is the dirt loop within Seneca Loop. In several places there are 3 or 4 distinct tracks to chose from. The cross country runners use this very regularly and when conditions deteriorate, they make a new trail. The south side is much smoother, and the north beat me up with its roots and clumps of supergrass that doesn't die. This portion is a fun portion to do after dropping in a big gear and grinding it away. I exited the park and used Garden/Stiltz to link to Mockingbird Valley Rd. for the excellent mellow downhill it provides. At the bottom next to I-71 I entered trail #4, which is a sketchy portion at best. As best as I can tell, it's an off-limits 4-wheeler track that is mostly covered with mud, being down in the flood plain. This is the 2nd time I've ventured there. It eventually extends to the back of Thurman Hutchins Park on River Rd. I learned in my "research" that this area actually has a name, Twin Park, and it's officially listed on our parks site as "passive open space". I would say; it's a lowland shrubby mess. The doubletrack was fun, though as long as I stayed in between the 2 gigantic ruts that comprised the route.


As stated, it connects with the back of Thurman-Hutchins where I rolled through the edge of mown fields and took in some football and soccer in passing. The path continues while in T-H as a mown path in the woods, so I don't know if it's supposed to be a path or an accident or what. From there it follows I-71 towards Indian Hills. At this point the one difficulty became wind damage in the guise of down trees, maybe 8 of them. This little "secret" trail is used b/c each of them had a short guerrilla path circumventing the damage, and this is all since the hurricane.

I entered Trail #5 after I crossed Indian Hills Rd, passed through the gap in the gate and entered Capteron Swamp, a dubiously named park that I've visited both on bike and on foot. This little area, which if I understand it began as a nature preserve under the direction of River Fields , and now is a city park as you can see. It has a main trail leaving the parking lot which branches to be a loop trail around the largest pond. Perhaps 2 years ago the pond was full but now lies empty. Perhaps, again, it is designed to collect seasonal water and henceforth seasonal migrations. Today I took advantage to make 2 passes around the pond loop. Finishing the 2nd loop I heard a bright and clarion "ping", which I soon learned was a broken spoke on the rear wheel. To the credit of the wheel and its maker (and ample clearance of the wide-profile cantis), I was able to continue my trail run.

I used Trail #6, the paved bike/walk path at Coxs Park to bridge to Trail #7, River Road CC, home of the recent USPG cyclocross race. Oh, it's now called Champions Park, and I just realized that I already did an entry just like this a year or two ago. Pues, it's fun and each ride is a bit different, isn't it? Because of the sketchy rear wheel I didn't hit any of the 'cross paths too hard. It would've been interesting to ride the circuitous meanderings to unlock which course was which, the Saturday course or the Sunday one, but for sake of mechanical safety I did a couple doopty-doos and head west into the setting sun, another season for expediency.

If one studies the map here of Champions Park, you can learn, or hear told, that the present 'cross course will become an "ecological restoration station", which I assume is just open land nobody futzes with. the 'cross course is to be moved west into its own home. The predominant portion of Champions Park, at least that of playing fields lies in the region between, but this is what interests me. Yesterday, Trail #8 became a little adventure riding down an access road leading from River Rd. onto the gravel path leading to three I-71 billboards. Officially it's closed to traffic but I was able to shimmy around the gate. It was also here that I flushed a little 'posse' of 6 deer having their sup in the fading light of day. Because they chose to escape in the same direction I was riding, I "chased" them for a fair portion of the access road. Poor things.

What intrigues me is that this land is hard-scrabble and at present covered with gravel roads, train tracks, three billboard towers and a cell-phone tower with its large, wire battlements. You can see see at the end of this image that there is a large field, with a large radio tower, and then woods. I can't imagine this turning into a bucolic, verdant green carpet of toe-headed children running to and fro. But the miracles of modern engineering and Mayor Jerry can make it happen.

Trail #8 extended to the 3rd tower and assuming I was to turned around, I found a dark and foreboding continuance, this under 71 and to the other side. It you look at the previous rendering of Champions Park, you would be looking at the creek just to the east of the 'cross course. The area under I-71 showed signs of usage- campfires, worn earth, trash, nests mind you?. Either the area kids have a drinking spot of the homeless have theirs. This little loop dead ends, so I turned back to find my most interesting nugget of the day. There is what amounts to and "intersection" back on the gravel roads, with the northern route returning to River Rd. and the southern route seemingly dead-ending under I-71.



View Larger Map

If you expand this image 2x, you can see the horseshoe of a train track with a southern 'Y' extending under I-71. Well, although not really visible from google, that 'Y' is the remnants of a train trestle which spans a creek there, and the it's walkable. Fortuitously, there are walking planks- old planks mind you- which make it all the easier. Under 71 I again saw the evidence of a dry place for out less fortunate. I admit I was feeling skittish in this area, b/c it wouldn't take much for a couple gentlemen to take advantage of my bicycle in this secluded spot. None-the-less, I sneaked through the brush and across the track and exited the other side at Mellwood, feeling proud for having bushwacked myself into a new experience. With the fading light, I headed directly home from there via Trail #9, the Beargrass Creek Path, and into Cherokee. Out temperatures have been mild, so mild of late. The 70F+ of daylight does, though, rapidly become chilly, so this last portion was not a cold one, but a cool one even. I took in my last trail, #10 on a Cherokee trail between Maple and a now-closed leg of Cherokee Park Rd. This portion provided me the opportunity to hit many a root and rock because firstly it was getting dark and secondly the tall growth on either side of the trail reminded me of the crowds on the mountain passes at the Tour which would part at the very last moment, obscuring the road ahead.

I returned home with mileage I'm entirely making up. I was out 2 hours, so a 26m credit I'm taking (13mph/hour). It was a great workout and a great time. I'm just so pleased to be back on the bike that the entries are verbose and detailed and hopefully capture interesting cycling experiences. good times for me, and hopefully for all. Peace.

Comments

Apertome said…
Man! You sure covered a lot of trails/ground. Way to string together a bunch of trails, that's very cool. Maybe I can figure out a way to do that here.

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