Adventures of 9/30/2006

It was a very nice sunny morning – about 60 degrees so I went out for another one of my bike rides in quest of my mileage goal. I made one goal of riding 1000 miles this year. My real goal is 1004 miles, however and I am still 4 miles short of that. The extra 4 miles is because that’s how far short I was of last year’s mileage goal. I fell short last year because of a fall I took on the bike in which I hyper extended my left elbow sometime last November. That and the weather ended my riding for last year – just 4 miles short! Making up for it this year and then some.

I rode through Chatfield State Park again and also up into Waterton Canyon. The fall colors are really getting wonderful right now and this picture is one I took in Chatfield:



It seems that I always see a snake somewhere on my rides and this little fellow was today’s snake. It’s about 14 inches long and I believe it is a bull snake.

Trashing C470

While driving to work the other day on C470 across Highlands Ranch, I spotted a large pile of trash along the south side of the highway. Not just a bag or two; it looked like about the amount that would nicely fit in the back of a pickup truck. Large non-descript items neatly piled about 20 feet off the road.

I wonder why this trash was dumped there. While it is not that unusual to see "gross" piles of trash in out of the way places, it is very unusual to see it dumped along a busy highway where, no doubt, lots of people saw whoever it was doing their deed. The C470 right of way is relatively clean although there is enough loose trash that accumulates so that it has to be picked up fairly often.

Why do people do this and why did this person do it there?

More Secret Chatfield Trails

The last time I rode my bike over at Chatfield State Park, I spotted another rider way over across the field. He was riding at a good clip so I knew he wasn’t simply riding across the field. He had to be on a trail that I didn’t know about. On my ride today, I found the trail. It is a single track trail that I suppose could be quite muddy though that wasn’t a problem today. It’s on the west side of the park close to the trees that line the lake. It’s really more like a rut about 8 inches wide. I could tell that lots of people had ridden the trail before even though it is not obvious how to get to it. This is what it looks like:



While riding down this trail, I came to an even more secret trail. A picture of it is below. What you see in the picture is a completely overgrown trail that is actually paved with asphalt. I didn’t venture any further into the woods than what you see but I know that beyond the woods in the photo is a is a little section of the lake. From earlier exploration, I also know that there is a similar trail on the other side of this portion of the lake. It is my theory that these trails connected to each other at some time but are now separated by this part of the lake that is about 40 feet across. I wonder what happened.

Colorado High Country – 9/24/2006

Heather and I spent a good part of the afternoon exploring some semi-back roads up in the mountains looking for some fall colors. We found some but saw that they had not yet peaked by any means. Nevertheless, we saw some nice patches of aspen gold and Heather took some great pictures.

This first one is on an unpaved side road off of Colorado 119 between Rollinsville and Blackhawk.



This one is near Tolland on the road that goes to the Moffat Tunnel. There was snow up there, too.



This shot is from the car window while we driving between Rollinsville and Blackhawk.

There was the Indiana Game...

In 1979, I attended this game. Have a listen...

College Football Road Trips

When I was in college at the University of Michigan, I attended all the football home games the same as most students. I also attended some road games while still a student and shortly thereafter that were memorable events.

I transferred to the U of M in 1977 as a junior and the team finished the regular season with 10 wins and 1 loss. They had entered the season ranked #2. Michigan rose to #1 after its first game but had a hard time beating two lesser opponents, Duke and Navy. When they played Texas A&M in Ann Arbor, they were ranked #3 and everyone was afraid of A&M who was ranked #5 at the time. I believe A&M was actually favored to win the game. A&M scored first with a field goal and then Michigan scored 41 unanswered points to win 41-3. I don't believe A&M even got past the 50 yard line the rest of the game! A couple weeks later, Michigan played undefeated and 14th ranked Wisconsin and beat them 56-0. This vaulted Michigan back into #1 and everyone was happy in Ann Arbor. The next week Michigan traveled up to Minnesota to battle for the Little Brown Jug and lost 16-0. So much for the undefeated season and #1 ranking.

They ended up the season with just that one loss to Minnesota. They played in the Rose Bowl on January 2, 1978 against the Washington Huskies and lost 27-20. I attended this game and despite the loss, the trip was a lot of fun going to the Rose Parade and various Los Angeles area attractions such as Disneyland and Universal Studios.

In the 1979 season, a bunch of us drove to West Lafayette, Indiana to see Michigan beat Purdue. The game was in mid October and it was really cold that day – about 30 degrees with light rain, yuck. Oh, and did Michigan win? No, they lost 24-21. I don’t recall much about the game but I do remember a Purdue fan trying to steal my Michigan hat at that game. They didn’t get it.

In 1980, the year after I graduated, a bunch of us got together to go to South Bend to see Michigan beat Notre Dame. This was a September game and the weather was pleasant. I still clearly remember that football sailing over the goal post by about 18 inches to score the winning field goal for Notre Dame as time expired. I was surrounded by Notre Dame fans and they were happy but also sympathetic to me. A nice bunch of people.

(A side note: Harry Oliver kicked that field goal for Notre Dame. He said after the game that he said a few Hail Marys before the kick. I wondered if this was the origin of the football "Hail Mary Play". It was not but this did qualify as one of those.)

Another road game was at Wisconsin in September, 1981. Wisconsin won this one 21-14. This was the first game of the year for both teams, I believe. Not a good way to start the season (unless you’re a badger fan!).

So, that was four road games and four losses for Michigan. Some people thought I was jinxing our favorite college team.

I went to one more road game, at Purdue, in 1981. Michigan won that one 28-10. So, the jinx was over. That was the last Michigan game I saw in person. Overall, Michigan’s record for games I attended is 20 wins and 7 losses.

I Saw a Snake

On my most recent bike ride, I saw this nice little snake. It's about 18 incehs long and is on the paved part of the bike path in Chatfield State Park.

Today's Adventures

As I started this morning's ride, I commented to my wife about my desire to see a bear somewhere on the ride. I had been on the alert for one since I know that they have been seen in Chatfield State Park but I have not yet seen one. I brought my camera along just in case. I passed all the way through Chatfield without seeing anything particularly interesting except for a magpie that was sitting atop a spindly tree. It would have made a nice picture but he flew away before I got my camera ready.

I entered Waterton Canyon. About three miles up the canyon, I startled a female Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep who was in the weeds between the road and the river. The ewe was agitated and jumped up and then came to stop in the middle of the road about 30 feet in front of where I had stopped. She then slowly approached me and I took this picture.



She was quite bold to approach me like this and when I backed away, she followed me. She even licked my bicycle tire. Then I rode on to leave her with the other sheep that was up the hill a ways.

About 5 miles up the canyon, I came to a place where there was a bunch of people all looking across the river and up the hill. When I asked them what was up there, they pointed out a black bear to me. I caught just a glimpse of the bear just as he went behind some brush. Too bad since I had my camera along. We waited around for a while and he did reappear for another glimpse but again disappeared before I could get his picture. He was 300 to 400 yards away.

Mowing the Lawn

Since the weather was threatening enough to keep me from heading out on my bicycle after work today, I decided that I would mow the lawn instead. While I was going to and fro in the back yard I began thinking about why I think of it as "mowing the lawn" instead of "cutting the grass". Is this a regional phrase? Is it old fashioned? Is it a US versus British English thing?

Mowing the Lawn
- Sounds better than "cutting the grass"
- Implies that great care is being taken with the grass growing in the “lawn”
- An enjoyable task
- The result is a thing of beauty
- Goes with edging and trimming

Cutting the Grass
- Something you have to do because the neighbors are complaining.
- The result is shorter grass
- Something you do to get rid of the dandelion flowers
- Goes with weed whacking

Trust and A Good Deed

When I lived in Texas, one of the places I used to railfan was in central Fort Worth. This is where many railroad lines converge and is therefore a very busy spot for those who like to photograph trains. One time in the early 90’s I drove to the Broadway Street railroad crossing (13 tracks, I think). From here you could see trains from multiple railroads while remaining off of railroad property. I sat on a concrete stoop by a nearby building.

One Saturday or Sunday, I met another guy there who was doing the same thing. He actually had ridden his bicycle to this location which I thought was odd given the location. We talked about our common interest in railroads and enjoyed the trains when they came by. I had brought a video camera with me to capture some trains belonging to Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, and Southern Pacific.

The neighborhood was not particularly good in this area. It’s not unusual to find seedy looking buildings and questionable people in areas like this and that is what you would find here, too. After an hour or so, an African American man came walking up and said that he needed help. He had no money and no place to stay. I had to make a decision about what to do.

I asked him what he needed. He said he needed enough money to stay in a not-so-nearby place and he also hoped for a ride back there. I wondered how much of a risk I was taking but nevertheless, I offered to help him. I opened up my car which was parked nearby and I put my expensive camcorder in the trunk.

He directed me to a particular house that was about 3 miles away. He told me his story of how he had just arrived from Mississippi. He came to Fort Worth for a job but his truck had broken down and he had arrived late. He was supposed to have met his boss at a particular location but when he finally got there, there was no sign of his new boss. So, he was out of money with no place to stay. He had a wife and baby and they had no food. He set off on foot to find some help and had quite an adventure himself like getting turned away from places that you’d think would have helped him. He was threatened with a gun at one place he had tried.

He told me that his name was Anthony. He was desperate enough to offer to give me his truck in exchange for some money that he could use to stay overnight at a house he had found as well as to get some food for the baby. I gave him, I think, $20 which was most of what I had with me. He said he would repay me so I gave him my address.

He never did repay me but I didn’t really expect it from him nor do I hold it against him. I felt good about having helped out someone in need. I felt bad trusting him only so far when we first met. That’s why I had put the camcorder in the trunk, after all.

I went back to Fort Worth the next week to the exact same location to photograph some more trains. The fellow with the bicycle was there again. The first thing he asked me was, “Well, was he telling the truth?”

A Fun Thing to do with Cats

We have two cats, Pippin and Dora. And just about every evening Pippin insists on playing a certain game and Dora always joins in once it starts. We call it "Tossing Goodies". Pippin will find me, sit down and simply stare directly at me in the face very intently thinking that will get me to start this game. He might do this for 15 or 20 minutes until I finally begin the game.

So, I go into the kitchen and get the container of goodies. These consist of Pounce Crunchy Tuna flavor dry catfood that comes in a little pouch. I figured out that it is about $9 a pound!

Anyway, I get the container and toss one of these little fish-shaped goodies across the room while Pippin is watching. Because of their odd shape, these bits of food tend to bounce strangely on the carpet almost like they are alive. Pippin nevertheless quickly chases them down and often jumps quite a ways in the air to swat at them. Dora joins in the game as well usually coming from out of nowhere once the game starts. They get 8 or 10 goodies each and its a lot of fun watching them chase them down and getting exercise at the same time (the cats, that is).

New Wildlife Sightings

On an otherwise routine ride around Chatfield Lake today, I had one unusual wildlife encounter. It was in the stretch of "secret" trail I mentioned in my previous posting. I was riding along at a moderate pace when I surprised two full size deer who ran across the path to a point about 40 feet away. They stopped there with big eyes staring back at me and their big ears sticking up. I slowed down but kept going to leave them in peace. They had surprised me as much as I surprised them.

Chatfield State Park - 9/3/2006

Today's bike ride around Chatfield State Park was very nice with a few interesting sightings of wildlife despite the large number of people present on this beautiful Labor Day weekend. The temperature was about 70 degrees. As usual, the bike trails were not very busy which is what I like about riding there. In addition, I know of some "secret" trails. Here is a picture of one of them:



This trail is on the west side of the lake and it is quite possible to ride a bike on it despite its overgrown look. At least it was today. Sometimes, it's underwater! Today, however, the lake level is very low and there is no problem riding all the way through.

The trail is mostly paved but due to its closeness to the lakeshore, it has been eroded or covered with sand in some places. It is part of a set of older paved trails that can be found around the park. Some are in better shape than others. Some should be avoided due to the presence of puncture vine (goatheads) growing in the cracks in the pavement. The part shown in the photo does not have this problem.

There is one trail near the bridge over the South Platte River that heads into the woods and becomes so overgrown that it is impassible. There are even more trails like this on the far east side of the park as well. I wonder if some of these trails predate the dam.

As I continued my ride around the lake, I ended up on top of the dam as usual. Looking ahead, I saw a large brown bird soaring and then land on the structure on top of the dam - about 50 feet in front of me. It landed and left its large wings spread for a moment. Then it folded them in and I could clearly see the head of the bird. I had my camera and tried to get it ready but the big old bird flew off before I could get the picture I wanted. I took a picture of it as it soared above me:



I had hoped it was some sort of eagle but the head was unmistakable. It was a turkey vulture. There were two of them soaring together. I enjoyed watching them for a while before continuing on my way.