Mrs. C and I had some fun together riding our bikes at Minto-Brown Island Park, followed by a visit to our new favorite coffee spot, Clockworks Cafe.
Winter shows no signs yet of relinquishing its hold at Minto-Brown Island; while some of the trees in residential areas have already popped open with early blossoms, that’s not the case here. Spring still seems a long way off.
The multi-use paths are wide enough to accommodate everyone fairly well. There was much more foot and paw traffic than bikes today, which I think is usually the case. This is not the place to get on your bike and wind it out on the pedals. It’s a place to roll at a more leisurely speed, have a conversation with your riding partner, and enjoy the scenery.
At one point in the ride we were in a heavily wooded area and bounced over some huge tree ruts in the pavement. At the same time the path took an abrupt turn on a bit of a slope. The path was a lot slicker than it appeared, and Mrs. C’s back wheel slid out as she cornered. This appeared to be an over-the-handlebars crash in the making, with a very large boulder directly in her path. However, she pulled an impressive maneuver by releasing her brake, rolling back upright and then turning the front wheel just before it slammed the boulder. Still sitting upright, not so much as an owie. Nobody could have done it any better! We did a commemorative knuckle-bump, and kept on riding.
We had promised ourselves a trip to Clockworks Cafe after riding. This is one of our new favorite spots. It’s spacious, they serve good coffee and other stuff, they offer wireless, and they have a place all set for live entertainment. This is a great spot to meet a friend for conversation, or to just find a table and do some people-watching out the window. Definitely worth a visit, especially after a ride.
5 comments:
Sound like your wife made a great save! Whew! We will have to try out Clockworks Cafe. I have heard lots of great things about it.
I've never heard of that park. I'm assuming it's close to where you live? Sounds like fun... except for the slippery pathway. Glad Nancy is okay!
I'd heard stories about Mrs. C's bike-riding escapades on gravelly, hilly roads when she was a kid in Idaho. I think I got to watch those skills in action yesterday!
Yes, Minto-Brown Island is just south of Downtown Salem, off of River Road. Great place to bring kids' bikes and make an afternoon of it.
Clockworks is about 5 minutes' drive from the park, on Commercial and just south of Chemeketa. It's worth a visit, for sure!
I enjoyed the description of your ride and the ability of Mrs. C to survive close calls.
Hmmm... kids' bikes eh? Sounds like we have a new place to discover this summer!
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