So, I'm riding along the bike path through Couchiching Beach Park- just opposite the Champlain Monument.
The bike path/walking path is divided from the road by concrete parking dividers. As I am riding along- just a few feet before me, a van pulls across the dividers and parks directly in front of me. A door swings open. The two cars on my left come to a stop because they can't pass safely with this van door flung open into the single lane.
I too stop short.
A women- completely unaware of the problem she has just caused, steps out of the van and closes
the door. She walks to the back of the van where I am stopped on my bike.
It's as if she doesn't know I am there.
"You realize you've parked right on the path..."- I say to her.
"Sorry."- she replies in a soft, damsel-in-distress kind of voice- "But I've lost my glasses."
I look to the couple in the car to my left and we all shake our heads in unison.
The cars move along and I ride out around the van on the left.
I wonder what she meant?
Did she mean she had lost her glasses and therefore didn't see that she parked right on the path?
Why was she driving if she lost her glasses in the first place.
or...
had she pulled up short and parked on the pathway because she was just popping over the fence that divides the path and roadway from the grassy area, just to have a wee peek for her "lost glasses"?
Whatever the reason, it was a dumb fuck of a thing to do and what she said didn't make sense.
A parking area was just a few car lengths away.
I swear I saw Champlain- high atop his monument, shake his head in disbelief.
Were her glasses going to get up and walk away if she didn't look for them that very minute or couldn't she see the parking area without her specs?
Whatever the reason it was a stupid and wrong thing to do.
I get so tired of the excuses and the people during the warmer months who pay no mind to that pathway. It is well-marked. They must see folks biking, walking, rollerblading or strolling along.
It's even worse where the mariners back their boats into the water down by French's Stand. I hope they deal with traffic and other boaters on the water better than they deal with pathway traffic on dry land. It's all for them and one for them- not for all or us.
It's a fucking obstacle course for as long as the boating season is in full swing.
Just be aware if you do any of those activities on the pathway through the park. Be aware too of
those "silent" e-bikes. They have just added another dimension to the phrase- "an accident waiting to happen". These bikes creep up silently and whiz out and around you in a flash. Very few people ring their buzzer to let you know they are there. If you ride a self-powered bike, a rear view mirror is a must- and good hearing a plus!
Oh and the tourists?
They have even less of a fucking idea. I imagine they wonder why someone would paint yellow and white lines on the pavement where they have to walk or cross over to get to the other side. Don't even get me started with people who walk and push baby strollers on the wrong side of the white line. Sometimes, after their stroll, I see them climb into their KIA's and drive away- hopefully on the "right" side of the road!
I gotta run. You see, I've misplaced my glasses and I have to go out onto the street to hold up traffic to look for them.
Happy Summer- in spite of them all!
