It felt much colder in the valley tonight than what was forecasted. Could it be because the temperatures were at the tipping point of adding another layer where I didn't? Makes the most sense to me, it took the entire trip through Mill Creek to acclimate to the cold valley grip that enveloped me and my poor mistreated Winter bike.
The trip took me across the soon to be doomed pedestrian bridge where I rode the North side to the soon to be doomed Walterdale bridge where I kindly sat with my bike idle, hand on the railing as six runners passed by. All of them had huge smiles and were incredibly friendly and grateful for my action which made me think afterwards. Everybody in the river valley on poor weather rides is incredible. The dog walkers were all well behaved and friendly. People walking on trails reacted to my bell and coming presence by waving a hand and moving over to the side of the trail. This is all due to the fact that these people are regular users and visitors to the river valley. They know the unwritten code of conduct.
When the weather is nice, the clueless ones are out. that is proven time and time again on every nice bike ride. The most unforgettable comment was from a night club blond and her boyfriend last Summer when I spooked her by approaching from behind them, after ringing my bell several times they didn't react and jumped when I was right on them. Her reaction: "Those bikes don't belong on these trails... Jesus!" I felt sorry for her boyfriend for how dumb this poor girl really was. These people will be encountered again and again as long as we all are riding mountain bikes on trails in a big urban centre. Tonight was special cause in the river valley. We all understood each other.
