Oct. 31st (Halloween) rides

We didn't have school on Friday because of parent teacher conferences on Thursday, so I organized a ride for students/staff. Had 6 participate. (Small school, not a lot of cycling so this was a good start!) Three students, one teacher (me), one principal and a secretary. (Don't let this fool you, the secretaries are the ones who actually RUN a school!) Lots of old bikes, borrowed bikes and Huffys so I took extra tools. We rode the Katy Trail 10 miles from Jefferson City to Hartsburg, had lunch at Dotty's cafe and back 10 miles. Only two of us had ever ridden the trail before and everyone loved it. It was beautiful with the leaves changing. I now have more people wanting me to let them know when I'm going to ride the trail.:D

I went out at around 2:30, trying to savor every last semi-warm day. I just did my regular loop, Monument St around to Carlisle and back on Lowell Rd. Well, I guess I didn't get out early enough. It was like rush hour. For the life of me, I couldn't think of why. Now, there are many times I ride this loop at 5 PM and it seemed like there were even more cars. So, despite the fact I am still bemoaning the fact I am getting slower and slower, I was enjoying the ride, when I came to the rotary in Carlisle center. For those of you who know this spot, it's a spot filled with cyclists and not tons of traffic. But yesterday, there were cars coming from every road and driveway... OK, the elementary school must have just dismissed, but still. As I was approaching the rotary, the traffic was stopped. I was sort of in the lane, maybe a little to the right. There were also cars stopped at a stop sign on a street that merges in behind where I was. I was slowly moving up and all of a sudden, this car pushes its way across the line of cars I was in, trying to turn out of the library lot, making a left across the traffic to get on the road I was on. She didn't see me at all. I was not unclipped, but I could have stopped. Somehow, I was able to go behind her car and get back in the lane. I could clearly see the look of horror on the faces of the other drivers; we were all very close to each other. After swearing at the woman, I proceeded into the rotary, where there were more cars than I have ever seen. After aggressively signaling, I finally got back on Lowell Rd. and I was shaking.
Then I realized why the traffic was like this. All of these people were rushing home to get ready for Halloween! Bah.... it reinforces my idea of the holiday. I guess I am now officially a grumpy old woman.
The rest of the ride proceeded with a vicious headwind as I turned to head to my neighborhood. Well, the weather was good and I rode 15.5 miles.

Halloween passed very quietly here - in fact I think most people I came into contact had forgotten about it. Even the shops seem more focused on Xmas decorations than Halloween ones (which suits me fine because it is crazy to observe Halloween at this time of year in the Southern Hemispere - its Spring here!)

So my Friday ride was 53 minutes on false flats, some standing which is very tiring after 1km...

Uforgot... your ride sounds lovely along that trail - and good on you for getting others out on their bikes!