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Bernd Mohr's
Oregon Picture Album | |
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Jennifer Rowan: Fair-Weather Rider...(story continued)...I confess that I'm a "fair weather" bike commuter and for that I feel apologetic, but each year, I capitulate at the end of October when the combination of darkness, rain and cold confound my resolve. By early March, I am more than ready to roll out the Raleigh. It is a good ride of about 20 minutes, starting near City View along the Amazon Creek with a view of the Gudu-kut Natural Area, a wetland in the early stages of restoration work. Five years ago, neighbors formed the Westmoreland Wetlands Advocacy Group to rescue this intact, 6+ acre jewel from development and persuade the City to purchase it for preservation. Further along the creek, the Garfield community gardens grow to annual abundance, attended by an ephemeral army of scarecrows.Wildlife can be varied: great blue herons and the more elusive night heron, displaced mergansers among the ubiquitous mallards, raccoons restlessly probing the murky creek bottom, and domestic cats transforming themselves into tigers in the tall grass. East of Polk, the route skirts the south perimeter of the fairgrounds. The wide open grassy field plays host through the season to convention center event participants:Black Sheep Gathering in late June establishes a folksy, no-frills tent city. Cat and dog show exhibitors and square dancers line up rows of plush RV accommodations. 4-H club events produce lively activity and farmyard sound-effects - the lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep and goats. Horses are sometimes exercised in the field along the bike path. I've often wished that the fairgrounds would provide a message board on its south side as they do on west 13th to publicize events for the users of the bike path! I have few complaints about my daily ride. It's unfortunate that I face the sun going east in the morning and west in the afternoon; and it's annoying to pedal against a brisk, prevailing west wind after a long day…but by the time I get across Willamette, the worst part of the commute is over. Since I finally broke down and bought the basic REI rain gear, I am mostly dry, even on the wettest days. I am, however, perpetually astonished at the universal disregard by bike riders for traffic laws and stop signs, am aggrieved at the hotshot cyclists who come up silently behind and whiz past without warning, and scathingly disapprove of the newest menace on the bike paths: motorized scooters. On the other hand, the riders I encounter going the opposite direction are mostly friendly and upbeat. Those with whom I habitually exchange waves and cheery hellos have sometimes even stopped to introduce themselves…. So I shout a hearty good morning daily to the elderly lady who feeds the ducks near City View, to the retired fellow with a cane and two crazed Chihuahuas on leashes, and to my seasonal bicycle friends: Larry, Susan, Lauren, Dieter and all the others. And these summer months pass too quickly! The heat of summer afternoons brings on a furious intensity of fairgrounds activity… the assembling of giant Ferris wheels and more demonic devices designed for thrills…; the creek waters slow, and the ducks swim languorously around the thick green scum that creeps over the surface; crickets in the dry grass and the sweet smell of warm blackberries ripening in hedges along the path are reminders of another turning season. Time to slow down the bike, stop to pick a few berries and entertain fantasies of freezer jam and homemade cobbler. Happy summer!
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