Walnut Creek Park:Mountain Bike Trail
Despite the intense heat, I decided to make my way down to The Walnut Creek Hike and bike trail. However, before I was able to make my way down there I had to do a few repairs on the old mountain bike. My back brakes were not working for some reason and after some trial and error I found that the brake wire was slack and needed to be adjusted. It was a good thing I fixed it because without the back brakes I might have been in serious trouble on this windy and sometimes steep trail.
I started off at the parking lot area near north Lamar. When I found the trail entrance I yanked out the map that I had printed before I left my apartment. I saw that I was at the north end of the trail and decided to head south to see what I could find. The first couple of minutes were bumpy as hell but the trail soon smoothed out. As I sped through the winding trails under the shade I was reminded of being on a snowboard and gliding through the trees. It was the same feeling except this time it was dirt under my feet and a menacing sun above my head.
After about fifteen minutes I found a nice spot to snap a photo for this post. When I looked into my backpack to get my camera I noticed that I had lost the map. A momentary sense of panic flickered through me, but then I realized that there were signs everywhere and I should be fine just following them. I held the camera and found that it was incredibly difficult to steady my hands, the heat and the riding had made me a bit tiered and shaky. I took the best shot I could (below) and headed on.
As I rode around the multiple trails I kept being led back to the parking lot area. This was actually a helpful occurrence because without the map I otherwise might have gotten lost. I probably took the same general track about four times, but each time I found new offshoot trails to go down and explore. It was nice speeding down the trails and being able to have a sense of solitude, I saw only about four other bikers. About an hour and a half into my journey I ran out of water. With the relentless heat beating down I knew that it was necessary to find more, perhaps a water-fountain? Near the parking lot there was a swimming pool and I thought that maybe there would be a fountain there. I didn’t see one when I got there so I asked a fellow biker sitting nearby under a tree drinking water.“Hey man, do you know if there is any water nearby?” He answered, “ No, I don’t think so. I just asked the guy selling popsicles the same thing. You might want to check near the baseball park.”
I had already checked near the baseball park and found no such water source. The furnace like heat was taking its toll on me and I decided that without water my ride was over. I lifted the bike into the back of my truck and then hopped behind the steering wheel. Driving down the park road in the air conditioning I noticed some trails in the distance that I hadn’t even touched. Seeing these I realized that I had explored only about 50% of the total area. I smiled and began to conjure in my mind what I would do when I return. One thing is for sure, next time I’ll definitely bring more water and a new map.
