The trail might be the same, but the story sure isn't.

     last weekend I was able to convince three riding buddies, in spite of the chilly weather to go on a ride.  I'm usually lucky to find one rider, so having Ron, Jeliesha, and Robert riding was a huge surprise.  Robert made the  suggestion that we ride the University Parks trail because he heard they may have extended it all the way past the university and out to Alexis road; just shy of the state line.  I'm as curious as the next guy, so I wanted to check it out for myself; besides it would give me a chance to see the fall colors before the trees shed their coats for the winter.

    On occasion we park our cars at UT and ride from there, but this time we decided to park at Wildwood Park and pick up the trail from a different spot.  I imagined I would see some yellow or red, possibly even brown leaves, on our deciduous mid-west trees. 
                                           

    Fall colors nothing!!  They looked almost like Christmas!!  I saw leaves in colors I've never even knew existed.

     This tree was sporting this cute red ensemble for the fall:)

     We reached the university and I noticed the trees were still green and I was really hoping to see more fall colors. However, it wasn't long before we found them...

     We don't usually ride through the university campus, but this time we did so we could check out the new addition to the trail.

     I've heard of major cities having public bikes scattered throughout, but I had no idea UT had these bikes as well.  I was told they could be found all around the campus and the students ride them between the buildings; leaving them for the next person to pick up. Of course, I wonder what prevents someone from riding them off the campus... maybe they have an invisible fence... ouch!!

          So we arrived to the area that was supposedly the extension, and you'll notice that this is by no means finished... it was nothing but a suggestion.  At least we knew where it would be eventually.

     And once again we were headed back to the trail.  Only it didn't end as smooth sailing as we had hoped for; as we approached the spot we usually park our cars, you know... at the university... Robert's seat snapped right off of his bike.

     This would have been perfect timing... had we parked where we usually do.  However, This time we were parked at Wildwood, which was about 4 miles away.  Ugh!  And if you aren't familiar with recumbent bikes, which Robert happens to ride, there is no riding it if you don't have a seat.

  In this photo his bike was on the far left; obviously we had a bit of an issue on our hands.

     Again, if it had been an up-right bike he could have walked it back.  But walking a recumbent is like walking a strong willed dog; not likely to happen.

     The only thing we could do was leave poor Robert behind, then bike back to the park and meet him with a car.  Keep in mind, this guy rides in his bare feet because he can't feel the peddles with his shoes on due to his MS.  And remember, I told you it was a chilly day.  It sure was bad luck for Robert, but we could have been 20 miles away, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

     I'm not sure if it was the way the sun was facing, but for some reason the leaves were even more colorful on our way back into the park.  Then again, it may have been the "glass half full" thing... after all, I did have my bike... and shoes...

     Jeliesha finally drove back for Robert and it all worked out in the end; though there were certainly many hours of bike repair in Robert's future.  My take away from all of this is; we might think from time to time that we have it rough, but just remember... no matter how bad it appears; someone always has it worse.

Have a great weekend!!

Christine:)