When I last left off, I had just disentangled myself from the clutches of a ravine with crude rustic stairs. And gotten a good workout hauling my bike up said stairs. Note to self: Don't go that way again.
I somehow through good luck end up on 24th street and so head out to Grand, and then north. Cause Ada Hayden was north.
I have a pet peeve. It's people who pull through stop signs and stop lights. I forgive them if they reverse for me, but I CLEARLY have a crossing light, and yet I have to put on my brakes and maneuver around your car, all while giving you a look that says, "Really?" I pondered this as I continued north. Eventually, I leave Grand and end up in a residential area. I believe the sign I saw said "Top O' Hollow Rd." Somehow the grammatical license used with the naming of said road made me look upon it with suspicion. Who's heard of a Top O Hollow road? Where am I? I can see trees on the other side of Grand and I wonder if that's the park I am supposed to be at. But, with the same good faith that made me climb stairs with a bike, I continue north. I'm not even on Top O Wherever road, I'm on Dawes Rd. Not like that helps, as I still don't know where that is, but it sounds more normal.
And then I go down a hill. Normally, I don't comment on going down hills, but about the time my speedometer hit 18 mph, I started putting on my brakes. Now, a biker will know, the thing with going down hills is that if you return, you have to go up them. Honestly takes some of the fun out of it.
But, at the end of the Hill of Impending Doom, I see a lake. I'll worry about the hill later. Or walk the bike up it. And I come out and there's the lake/pond thing and I see a park sign. Except it says Calhoun Park. What on earth is a Calhoun, I wonder, until I remember I don't know what an Ada Hayden is either, and dismiss it. Probably names. I'd name my parks helpful things, like "Brookside." Unless that's actually named after a person too.
There is a little gap in the fence around the like, and a path on the other side. I hesitate, because the entrance through this gap isn't even paved, but there is a sign that says trails are not maintained for winter, enter at your own risk, so it has to be a valid entry point of some sort. I enter at my own risk.
Eventually, I do see a stone-like sign that says Ada Hayden on it. Victory! It's probably a lot prettier in the summer. It's just kind of sad and brown right now.
But there were people out. For a brief moment, I doubted the sanity of said people and that was before I reached the assisted living tour group. I saw a person, the most notable trait being a large lavender-clad posterior, simply get down and lie face-down on a bridge. I start slowing down and I'm sure my eyebrow was arched. Don't people know not to do crazy things in public places? Maybe not in a college town. I keep going, slowly, hoping something will start to make sense. It seemed intentional. Will it be necessary for me to stop and be like "citizen, are you in need of assistance?"
And then the posterior rises like a moon and someone else gets up too. The crazies are in a group I guess. I skirt them and the only thing I note is that the pants are actually pink-and-white checkered instead of light purple. Which improves the posterior not one bit.
I see where the path starts back around the lake, but I remember certain Hill of Impending Doom and opt to head toward a residential-looking area. I recall seeing a couple on Google Maps and they were laced with bike trails.
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