The Horse You Rode In On (Part II)

Where did I leave off? Right. The jogger in the orange vest. Still laughing about that. But to continue the saga....

Phase Four: Jennifer Goes Down the Hill (Some More)

Once down the big hill, I have to wind my way into downtown, and specifically to Riverfront Park and the Centennial Trail. Exiting Post, I ride on the residential streets since there are fewer cars and I can safely ride in the middle of the road if I want to, and headed south until I hit the next main street. Then I headed east until I hit Washington. Why Washington? Well, I planned to enter the park underneath the Washington Street bridge. Now, Washington is a major street with lots of cars going really fast. So I ride on the sidewalk all the way down. A really bumpy, cracked, sometimes incredibly narrow sidewalk. But I make it and in a few blocks I pass under the bridge and penetrate the park.

Phase Five: The Centennial Trail

Once in the park I have to get over on the other side of the river to get to the Trail (I’m going to call it the Trail from now on. Easier. And cool points for me, making up my own slang and all.) To do that I have to cross over one wooden bridge (the falls were RAGING only a few feet beneath my bike wheels,) then up onto the grassy knoll and back down again to cross the second bridge (no raging falls beneath me now. Just a placid lake behind the dam.) Then I ride the Trail, past CI Shennanigans, past the flock of sleeping geese (yes, I was up riding my bike before the geese were even awake,) over the river again, past the law school (oh, what fun we used to have!) and up and over Hamilton Street (laughing at the gridlock below.) Now comes the scary part....

Phase Six: Where the Wild Things Are

Once over Hamilton I exit the Trail, ride down by the Northern Lights Brewery, wonder if it’s too early to stop in for a beer, decide it is, and cross the river yet again on the Trent Street bridge. That’s the fourth time I cross the river. Now here comes the fun part. First, I have to cross Trent Street, which is a fairly busy street even this early in the morning. While waiting for an opening I call Stephen on my cell phone. I knew I was going to need some moral support for the last leg of the trip. Once I cross over, I head down the dirt road, by the mission, past the building supply store and up the hardly-ever-used-but-at-least-paved-road that leads me under the freeway. I have to pass under the freeway. On a barely used road. Let’s just say that I’m hyper-vigilant on this portion of the trip. I do not want to meet the kind of people that might hang out down here alone, on my bike, at 7:20 in the morning.

Phase Seven: The Last Push

The very last thing I have to do before I’m home free is ride up a very long, fairly steep, hill. I only make it about a quarter of the way up before I have to get off the bike and walk it the rest of the way. But I’m fine with that. Once I make it up the hill, I coast the last half block to my office, and enter the building through the parking lot.

And that’s all there is to it.

On the knitting front, I finished the repeats on my flower basket shawl last night and started in on the border. I am halfway through the border chart and very much looking forward to finishing this one up. Really. You have no idea.