As I’ve mentioned before, driving plug in vehicles changed us. We reversed a life-long pattern of bigger and bigger homes by downsizing. Since we have a much smaller yard, I started doing yard work, (using lithium ion powered lawn equipment, of course). We added 38 solar panels and track their performance religiously. I built raised vegetable gardens for Bonnie to grow fresh tomatoes and jalapeños for me (and whatever else she wants).

Now, a bit of luck has me considering my health and getting back into shape.

For several years, we have heard that a bicycle trail running between downtown Fort Worth to downtown Dallas was being constructed and it would pass very near our neighborhood.As it turned out, it passes along the southern perimeter of our neighborhood, just along the edge of the artificial lake the developer put in.That’s just two blocks from our home! South of that, lie the Trinity River lowlands, which will never be developed. The river, thick woods, wildlife, flowered fields and wetlands abound. I love going for walks down there.Recently, I headed east, reaching the end of the path. A bulldozed dirt track continued, so I took that, to see where the path will go, when completed. It was beautiful!

Eventually, I went off-road and ended up at a barbed-wire fence. On the other side were probably cattle or horses, so I thought it best to end my eastward exploration and just explore randomly. There were lots of mesquite trees, in the clearings, and at one point, I rode over a downed limb. If you’re a Texan, you probably know mesquites have massive thorns. At the farthest point from my home, on that first, eastward exploration, I came upon the Trinity River and the realization that my rear tire was flat. So ended my eastward trek…

The bike path section that heads west,from our neighborhood lake, is almost completed and tied into the Fort Worth end of the bike trail system, so I went on an impromptu 21 mile bike ride.There were a few sections that were lacking pavement, but the earth was level and smooth, so I continued westward. Work crews were present, so I thanked them for their hard work as I rode by.A couple bridges were missing, but the streams they crossed were easily forded, and I could see the paved bike path was on the other side, so I continued on. The path is relatively level, with no difficult climbs, so I know it will become popular, once the paving is completed and the word gets out. I am so grateful that my tax dollars were used for something this epic! Many thanks to the North Central Texas Council of Governments for getting this built!!!

Here’s some more scenery to entice you to dust off your bicycle…

The only scary moments were when I crossed paths with a snake. The first one was between five and six feet long. He seemed to be in as much of a hurry, slithering across the sidewalk as I was in avoiding running him over! The image that played in my mind was running over the snake, which caused it to be picked up by the rear wheel of the bike and flung upon my back. I really do not like snakes. The second snake I passed was only about two feet long and was much easier to avoid.

This is as far west as I went. I had no water with me, so it seemed like a good stopping point.

**UPDATE**

In case you don’t know how determined I can be, My next goal was to ride all the way to University Drive and I-30, which is a 40 mile round trip. I decided to give that a shot four days after the first ride, on July 14th. Of course, I had water with me this time. When I reached my turn-around point, I noticed that my iPhone battery had only 10% left. I rode a little further to the Apple Store, where I used to work, and charged my iPhone there.

Next door, there was a Starbucks that graciously refilled my water bottle. I had no cash or credit cards with me, so I couldn’t pick up Gatorade at a nearby convenience store, but was very grateful for Starbucks’ assistance.

Unfortunately, after about 45 minutes of charging, as soon as it was unplugged, it dropped to about 17% battery capacity left. The issue of insufficient battery life is caused by running the “Find My Friends” app, which uses GPS (so my wife can locate me, in case I don’t get home), the “Map My Ride” app (which keeps a record of distance, speed and calories burned, and also uses GPS) and wirelessly streaming pace music to my bluetooth headphones. This was too much for the iPhone’s battery to handle for more than about two hours. I decided, since my wife wouldn’t be able to track my location and the bike trail is not near roads, for almost my entire ride, it would be best to call it a day and ask Bonnie to come pick me and my bike up and drive us home. Also, I noticed my legs were getting a little stiff after the prolonged recharge stop.

Not to be deterred, I took several steps before my next attempt:

• I placed some cash in the small pouch strapped under the bike’s seat, for refreshments.
• I also bought a pair of riding gloves to replace my ancient pair, to have better padding to reduce numbness in my hands.
• I bought another pouch that is supposed to hang under the front crossbar, although I mounted it upside down, as my bike’s design would not allow it to mount as intended.
• I located an external battery pack I have used for shooting long, time-lapse videos on my iPhone and recharged it. I intended this battery to go into the crossbar pouch and to run a USB cable from it to my iPhone, which is mounted on the handlebars.

The result was success! On the next ride, which occurred on the morning of July 17th, I headed out and went around the north end of downtown Fort Worth, along the Trinity River, and reached University Park. I saw no snakes this time, but lots of other bicyclists. I also passed a large turtle, crossing the bike path. It brought to mind the “Tortoise and the Hare” fable and the song by the same name, by the Moody Blues.

When the “Map My Ride” app showed I had gone 20 miles, I stopped for a water break, in the shade of the I-30 overpass. My iPhone’s remaining battery life was still showing 100%, meaning that it had run the entire time on the external battery. Based on this, I knew that even if that battery was almost empty, the iPhone’s internal battery would get the job done. With some water remaining in my water bottle, I started the return ride.

It was tough. There were no convenience stores along my route and I was absolutely not going to ride further, just to buy Gatorade, because it would lengthen my ride. At the 2/3 point, I stopped shortly, to drink the last of my water. At the 3/4 mark, I started to worry that I wasn’t going to make it home without more water. I was riding through a park, at that point and noticed, off in the distance, a water fountain!

I rode through a field and although the water fountain would not allow me to completely fill my bottle, I was able to partially fill it, drink and repeat, several times. I filled the bottle as much as I could, for the remaining ten mile ride home, and headed out.

I made it home around noon, when the temperature had risen to the upper 90s (Fahrenheit). When I came out of the forest and could see my neighborhood in the distance, for some reason, a line from The Hunt For Red October popped into my head:

“Your Russian’s going to make it to America, Mr. Ryan. He’s going to die within sight of it.”

I am a stubborn person. I made it all the way home, without stopping again. It was grueling but worth it, but I left everything I had, on that ride. I was completely spent. Still, not bad for 61 years old!Now that I know I can make it, I will drop back to a more reasonable distance for my rides and build strength and lose weight, over time.

But I will do the 40 mile ride again when it’s not quite as hot.