I decided in the week that I would bike around the pedestrian paths of Waterloo to gain a different perspective of the city, and document my adventure with photos. Unfortunately the weather forecast was rain, however I was determined to go ahead with my intentions.
I parked the truck at Carla and Tony's house and started my ride around Noon with a gloomy sky. From their house I traveled on the road for a few hundred meters until I found the pedestrian path I was looking for, however it didn't turn out to venture where I thought it would. It did give me a different view of peoples homes as it toured behind them, and it gave me the opportunity to see how people maintain their properties, or don't. As the path ended at a major roadway I decided I would ride to the local trails and give the bike and my body a bit of a workout. I decided I didn't want to ride what I usually do as it was not my intentions for the day, but I still rode Kaitlyn's Switchback, Andy's BBQ Run, The Bypass, The Double Bypass and Rockin' Ronnie(which I happened to have an accident on, turned to sharply and braked with too much pressure and went straight over the handlebars), then headed back to the road to continue on with my original plan.
Once I was back on the road riding towards another pedestrian path that I knew would take me where I was headed it decided to start raining. Fortunately for me the rain was quite refreshing and didn't last long, although I was quite wet when it stopped. Its amazing the people who will stare at you and wonder what you are doing outside when it is raining, I know I have been on that side of the thought. If you think about it though, it's only water, afterall we shower and swim, so what is a bit of rain. I know what you're thinking, it could have been worse and not stopped for the rest of my ride. After riding in the rain for roughly ten minutes I found the next path I was after and rode it past the local Universities and into Waterloo Park. As I rolled slowly through Waterloo Park I noticed quite a few groups of people wandering the grounds not minding the weather and having a wonderful time. If the weather had been better I'm sure more people would have been out.
Now that I have left Waterloo Park and was back onto the roads I wanted to have a look at some of the businesses that I drive past quite quickly, so I could admire the architecture and find out if there are any events happening this summer. I do know The Brick Brewery summer hours of operation now, and that Uptown Waterloo is alive with activity, even when the weather is unfavourable. By this time I should have stopped for lunch somewhere, even though I had food in my pack, but I remembered that I had left my bike lock in the truck, so had to continue on biking.
I headed back towards Waterloo Park. This time I was in search of an off-trail path that I recall riding several years ago. To no avail could I find it, but I did find others, although once I was on them I had to turn around and head back to the main pedestrian path as they were far too overgrown and incredibly wet. As I rode the path I notice a cricket match being played on the pitch, so I stopped and watched it for a while. I will never remember the rules of cricket or know the scoring system but it is still amusing to watch. A few minutes later I found there was an arts festival happening at the outdoor theatre and had a look at peoples stands there. I saw one persons stand with some amazing photography so I had a chat with him for a while, and he gave me a few pointers on how to compose a decent photo. At the end I asked him for his website and told him I would be interested in purchasing a print when I found one that I really liked. His website is http://foxjump.deviantart.com/, you should definitely check it out.
When I found my way out of Waterloo Park I rode past the Universities again along the pedestrian path and out to the Laurel Creek path that winds along the roadway back to Carla and Tony's house and my rapid means of transit.
The day turned out to be moderately successful, as far as finding trails, although I was unable to take any photos of Waterloo and document my ride in that respect I still had a good day. There are plenty of weekends remainig, and the weather should be better so I can do this again and publish a photo blog.
Waterloo I look forward to doing this again,
Craig
