...and a Doohickie's Eye View of The Old Gentleman.
I paused to take a few pictures and as I stopped someone else stopped with me. It was Ron (aka lutemake3 on BikeForums).
He had seen pictures I posted of me and The Old Gentleman and recognized us, so he decided to stop and say hi when I pulled off the trail. He likes to take a ride during lunch. He has a very sweet 1972 Gitane TdF with some nice mods, including a twin headlight setup (with dynohub), classic saddle bag and nice fenders.
If people you don't know recognize you when you're out and about, does that make you a celebrity? If so, I guess maybe I better start watching out for the paparazzi!
Anyway, I had pulled over to take a few pictures of The Old Gentleman, my 1966 Raleigh DL-1, so here they are.
The bike is sporting new Schwalbe Delta Cruiser tires I bought from Flying Pigeon LA. They were a decent price and Flying Pigeon was great to deal with.
The Trinity River has several branches that wind through Fort Worth. Because of flooding in the 1940s, the Army Corps of Engineers did some work on the river channel. A byproduct of the work was a gravel road that runs along the river. It didn't take much to cover the coarse gravel with crushed gravel to make a bike and jogging trail. On some sections they added a second paved trail which is very nice for cycling. In these pics you can see the two trails.
It's hard to believe this is in the middle of one of the larger cities in the U.S. The view above is a view from the Rogers Street Bridge looking west. On the north bank is the Trinity Trail. On the south bank, behind the trees, is the Colonial Country Club, a very swanky club and home to the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial golf tournament. If you peek around the trees you can see the golfers at the Colonial.
Looking east from Rogers, you can see the University Drive bridge.
For a Friday early afternoon, there was a lot of traffic on University Drive. A short ride down Rogers led to this:
I went over one of the guys helping to park cars and asked what was going on and he said that it was parking for the Zoo. I didn't know it, but Spring Break is a big week for the Fort Worth Zoo. In fact, this past Wednesday (every Wednesday is half-off day), they set the all-time Fort Worth Zoo attendance record (with a 1/3 more attendance than the old record). I suppose it's a combination of Spring Break, nice weather, and the bad economy- a lot of parents had the day off, too.
I took some more pictures Friday, but they will have to wait for my next blog entry.
6 comments:
I don't know exactly what is so appealing about river photos, but I love them. Even in a big city like Fort Worth, a river is a refuge for nature. Thanks for the pictures!
Great ride report. You probably rode past my son at some point. He was on my Quatro Assi.
Traffic was horrible this week because of people trying to get to the zoo and Six Flags. I-30 was at a standstill in Arlington and at University Drive.
Now I'll have to keep an eye out for lutemake3 as well as you out on the trails.
That commute looks horrid. One long slog, from the looks of it!
I hope those Marathons are up to the task!
Horrid? It's a lovely ride! And a lot more relaxing that commuting in L.A. (I lived there in the 80s.)
Wow! Greg and I keep wishing we had our bikes with us on the road but I can only go about a half a block before I'm huffing and puffing. You definately put me to shame and inspire me all at the same time!!!
Last year I was huffing and puffing too. Just get yourself a bike and you'll come along quick! A great way to burn calories and attain your ideal physique. ;- )
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