Snakes, Cars, Alligators, or Golf Balls? (run)

The golfer screamed, "I could have killed you!" as I ran past on a golf cart road shortly after his tee off. All I could think about was the killer sidewalk, or the Snake and Alligator filled canal (take your pick) so my response could be nothing less than "It was your golf ball, a car hit, or tumble into a deadly canal!"

It all started out one cool Miami afternoon at a new hotel that I had not previously stayed in. I wanted to go for a run and when I looked out my 8th floor window immediately below me was a canal with a path along it. On the other side of the canal stretching out in front of me laid a not bad looking golf course nestled within a rectangular area that was al least 2 miles in diameter. And was it going to rain? These are things that a runner might think about when going out for an hour run. As I studied the sky I concluded that these were not rain clouds above eastern Miami. Now, where to run to? Do I go around the golf course, or through it? Or, maybe I could take that path along the canal, which looks tempting! The hotel receptionist discouraged me from running the canal, but then she also was concerned that I might get rained on. What does she know? I am a professional pilot, I know what rain clouds look like... She is probably wrong about the snakes too! So off I went along the canal for a hour long run. About 20 yards down the canal path I all but ran into a sign. The sign read, "Poisonous snakes AND alligators present, for your safety please stay away from the rocks!" I thought about this as I continued running down the path, a block pathway that was sloping teasingly towards the rocks - the ones with the alligators and snakes in them. I come upon another snake sign! I decided, "There might be some actual truth to this snake and alligator thing." At this point I made a command decision and headed for option #2; running around the golf course on the street.

No sooner did I get to the sidewalk did I come upon an automobile rear bumper. Up ahead lay several hubcaps, an abandoned shopping cart, broken glass and a sign post chopped off so that if I was to fall at the right time I might be permanently impaled amongst the auto paraphernalia. After safely passing these obsacles I came to the corner, when I arrived there in place of where the sidewalk should be was a lake! Yes, a small lake, and the only way around this lake was to go out into the intersection which was quite busy with vehicular traffic. The golf course is suddenly looking like a great place to run! I turned around and ran 1/2 mile back to the golf course entrance.

There were not many people golfing in the middle of the day so it looked like I had finally made a good choice in places to run. A great choice! No snake or alligator signs present here! After about 15 minutes of golf course running I approached a threesome of golfers teeing off. I considered that I should keep my eyes on the golfer at "bat", and it was a good thing I did, 'cause when he hit the ball he sliced it and it whistled as it whizzed over my head by about 15'. He was apparently embarrassed and needed someone to lay blame. The golfer looked at me running by watching and screamed... you know the rest~

How It All Started

I first came up with the idea to take my bike on trips back in the late 80's when a friend gave me one of the original Dahon 16", 3 speed folding bikes. A change in flying to international, and changes in security requirements put a kibosh on this until recently. I came back to primarily flying in the states again four years ago and got the idea to rent a bike one day while on a layover. The problem with renting though is that bike shops are not always nearby, and the shops have hours that are don't always mesh well with the layover. Anyway I remembered how much fun it was to get out and really see where I was staying while on this rental ride. The first ride on my own bike was was at Rapid City last June. It was a 52 mile ride to Mt. Rushmore. The bike was my second Dahon, a five speed that did not have a very good brake (yes there was only one!). The ride took about 4 hours round trip. Due to the design of this bike, excessive frame flexing and not so good gearing plus the fact that there are real hills in the Black Hills, the ride was a bit tough. Admittiedly, I may not have been in the best riding shape at that time either. Weather was good though with a slight headwind outbound. This in combination with the fact that it was mostly downhill returning made for a pretty quick return. I did have to do a foot assisted stop at one light though, due to the brake problem. I bought a new bike since this ride; a Dahon Curve SL. The new bike is a much improved model weighing 30% less than the previous models and a considerably better, stronger design to boot! I have put together a lightweight tool kit, including patch kit, pump w/gage, bike multi-tool, and crescent wrench (for non quick release rear tire) that I keep in a Camelbak. By the way the Camelbak seems to provide much better hydration than a water bottle due to ease of access as well as increased capacity.

I am retro-dating this entry as I want it to be the first that you read chronologically. I hope you enjoy my entries. And a apologize in advance for all the cheesy self portraits on location. I promise that in the future, if I see someone nearby I will ask them to take the pictures of me!