Mother Goose

As of late, I've been doing a little here and a little there. Nothing too strenuos, but gradually trying to work my way from back the ankle boo-boo. Today marked its 3 week anniversary. Scary thing is that I still cannot run yet without limping. I can scurry a little, but I'll bet that I look funny doing it. Good thing is that I found out last week I can still ride my bike, so I went for a nice & easy ride earlier this evening.

I didn't really plan on going in any direction, but thought that it would be nice to ride along the river on such a warm sunny day. After taking a few detours to explore streets I hadn't been on before, I started heading toward the north bank bike path that runs along the Willamette River. As I rode along, I notice an unusual park sign in an area that I didn't think would have a park. My curiosity got the best of me, so I rode toward this sign, which was kind of tucked away between the end of a quiet neighborhood and the very edge of a commercial zone, both of which backed onto the local expressway.

I rode closer and it looked kind of woodsy, with a small path leading away from either side of the sign. I thought to myself "why didn't I know about this place before?" I figured, what the hey, and started riding down one of the paths. Who knows, it may be a back way to the bike path somewhere. As I rode a few more feet, the small woody area started to clear, and I noticed that this "park" was actually a "bog", yeah, like a mosquito pond.. there were also signs that there may have been transients camped out here. Nonetheless, my Lewis & Clark mindset was urging me to keep going.

I noticed that a little ways down the path, there was a big white goose, and a couple of Canadian geese hanging around the edge of this "pond". I thought to myself, "I wonder if they will freak out if I ride closer.. will they give chase, or will they fly away?" They sure weren't very far from the little dirt path and I had to ride pretty close if I wanted to get by...Oh look, the big white goose is going to fly away...uh, nope.. he/she is coming this way... oh wait..I'm getting closer.. she's getting closer, .... I then realized that this bird may not be really happy and my right foot is awfully close to her... this big honking bird started to charge towards me, big orange bill and all wide open, wings flapping... not a happy one...just as I rode past, I realized that oh.. there were two grey goslings that I hadn't noticed before....ahh.. no wonder she was pissed at me..I was encroaching on her territory and her babies. Doh! So while a close call, it was just mother nature at work once again. I managed to make my way out of the "boggy park" and rode away unscathed. whew!

Although it was after 7pm, the air was still warm and light was still abundant, so I continued riding. I made my way down to the river and began heading east down the bike path. All the energy I hadn't used over the past few weeks fueled my charge down the bike path. I kept on passing people along the way, bikers and runners alike. I felt so free!!! One of the neatest things about this bike path is that there are wide open grassy areas as well as narrow curvy paths in woody areas. A few bumps and here from the tree roots dot the asphalt, but a very smooth and easy ride overall. The bike paths run for miles east and west, but with the limited sunlight hours, I decided to start heading back to the house. Rather than retracing the way I came, I decided to explore a different part of the street bike path system that I have seen many times, but have not yet rode. By the time I arrived back at home, it was an hour later and the daylight was fading quickly. I figured that I had rode about 12 miles altogether. It felt great to hear the wind whizzing by my ears and my heart racing a bit. Life is good!