I had a great lunch time ride today. I rode a little more than 4.25 miles, this was all on my 24" Schwinn. (Note: I can hardly wait until I can say a Muni). My max speed was 10.7 mph, the total riding time was 40 minutes.
The trail is a City owned and maintained trail that runs along the Pigeon River. “River Walk Trail” is 95% paved. Our little town has a full-time flower and tree crew and they spend lots of my tax dollars to keep this little trail prettied up and manicured. The trail rolls along both sides of the river, which averages about 80 feet wide. There are future plans for this trail to continue for approximately 15 miles. Whipppeee, but that is more of my tax dollars! This is a very beautiful ride. A section of the trail is built as a suspended wooden boardwalk. Three times this trail goes out to a very busy highway, but only for 100 yards or so each time. Living in a tourist town, these roads are bumper-to-bumper 10 mph traffic on most Fridays. The passengers in these vehicles almost always have nice things to say, or give me a thumbs-up or an approving smile, twisting their necks get another look at that “one wheeled bike” out their back windows.
I mentioned that one little section of this trail is not paved. This part of the trail is about 8" feet wide, bordered by railroad ties on both sides and is full of small loose gravel. I HAVE NEVER MADE IT THROUGH THIS SECTION WITHOUT AN UPD!
But today, I finally made it all the way through. Then, on my way back down the trail, when my quads were already mildly burning, I successfully rode through the whole gravel pit again. I assume on a 24 x 3 Muni this gravel wouldn’t even be mentioned, but on my 1.75 Schwinn, I feel it’s a major achievement.
Thanks for letting me share my story, and my “gravel pit” success. --chirokid–
