Truck on the trail.

Sorry for my extended absence, but my "pro" blogging gig has kept me too busy to post over here. Before you dismiss my link as shilling, I'm pretty proud of the stuff I'm writing over there - you try to make lists about renters insurance over and over again, and make them interesting. I bet you can't - and I'm not sure that I did either, but there you go. Either way, my scheme is working, and I am gradually crawling my way up on Google rankings as a result - from nil to page 4 is not too shabby work for 1500 words or so.

I am back into the swing of riding, and feeling pretty good about myself. I did try to go for a longer ride on Labor Day, but the wind was terrible, and I found myself lying by the side of the road about twenty miles in, with my chest heaving like I just started riding. This weekend I'm working the RV Supershow, but I'll do my best to squeeze in a ride on Sunday morning. I need to do at least 35 or 40 miles in order to build up to the tour, and since I have been riding in to work I feel confident that I can pull it off. By the way, if you are at the supershow, please stop by my booth and say hello - if you pull the blog up on your iPad or smartphone and show it to me, I'll be happy to autograph my work free of charge.

I am still working on what (for me) has been the hardest of my "why I ride" posts thus far, but you can look for most likely early next week. Today, however, I want to complain a little bit about the bike path that runs along Renner Road in Richardson. Well, I suppose I'm not complaining about the path, but the contractors that are working on the water lines (or electrical lines, or whatever it is they are working on) beside the path. Why do I complain? Because of this.

He folded the mirror while I fiddled with my phone

A truck, all up on the bike path, with two construction workers sitting inside drinking coffee. There was no work going on anywhere near the truck - there was further down the path, but not right here. While normally this would just be an annoyance in this case it was worse, because of either the drought or the zealous edging that Richardson parks department workers do, there is a HUGE gap along the edge of the path - which makes it exciting for me to hop off and go around a kncuklehead who thinks that this is a parking lot.

Mind the gap

If you look, you will also see that the truck was at the end of a nice curve, so it wasn't readily apparent to me as I came upon it. I did avoid it, and rode off of the trail and onto the grass, but then again I have Danny level handling skills. By the way, there is a parking lot approximately 50 yards up the path, and Renner road at this time of the morning is pretty empty.

That street looks too dangerous to park on. 

Continuing down the path I saw several more trucks, and backhoes - the trucks were parked on the streets and in the grass, and the backhoes were working on digging up whatever lines needed to be dug alongside the trail. All without being on the bike path, unlike what I assume to be their supervisor. In the greater scheme of things, this is a relatively minor complaint - but I think that it is an important one. Sure, you are working alongside the path, fellas - but why do you need to park on it? This is my highway, not yours, and I ride paths so I don't have to interact with cars all that much; it makes my ride that much better. Your truck ruined my ride yesterday, construction workers, and I wanted to let someone know about it. 

In other news, I am still the first place fundraiser for the Tour De BBQ with over $800 raised to fight cancer. Have you made a donation to my fundraising effort? I surely would appreciate anything you can put in to help the cause - even if it's $5 it will help to make a difference. This ride is raising money to help the University of Kansas Cancer center make the next leap in the availability of treatment for those affected by cancer. Please, if you haven't donated, click here and do so. The time to raise funds is short, and there is no time like the present. You are going to read about my experience at the race; please support my efforts to raise 1/15th of the total fundraising goal. I am not far away.