Wow, what a commute to work. I drove my TR6 to Bailey's this morning for the annual inspection/emission test. I managed to squeeze my bike into the passenger seat (after taking the top down, of course) so I could ride to work from Bailey's shop in Murray. After dropping off the car, I headed west with the plan to connect with the Jordan River Parkway at 4500 South, for a nice, easy northerly ride into downtown. Not so! After about 1/3 of a mile on the trail, I hit a section where the river had flooded over the trail extensively, leaving absolutely no way to get around (without wading through waist deep Jordan River water). So I turned back. I made my way further west to 1300 West and took that north to about 3300 south where I was able to get back on the Parkway trail. Smooth sailing for a while, until I got to about 2100 South where the trail passes beneath an overpass. The river had flooded there too, leaving only the large boulders that run along the edge of the trail exposed. So I had to portage my bike over these boulders, in bike shoes. After this I was back on the trail, and continued north until 900 South, where I got off the trail at Jordan Park and headed up to 900 West to connect to 900 South. From there, it was a glimpse of Salt Lake's industrial side as I made my way into town. It took me 52 minutes to cover the 12 or so miles, an ode to the various obstacles. But it was a nice little adventure -- good to have this kind of thing every once in a while to remind one that you're alive and that the routine doesn't have to be routine. | 