Sometimes You Gotta Take the Closed Bike Path

Sometimes You need to explore what's on the other side...my husband leads the way.

With an integral section of our waterfront path closed since mid-September - and the detour involved: a grunting ascent up the steepest street in the city, along a busy corridor, then braking descent back to the path through a public campground - the arduous detour has grown old. By mid-November it's no wonder that commuters and runners are circumventing the fencing, taking their chances with encountering workers and construction vehicles to save time and effort.

For a while I went through this routine twice a day when I was living at our family's camp in northern Burlington. However, once I moved home I tended to bypass the closed section, entering the waterfront path on either end and avoided the detour altogether. But on a coffeeneuring run with my husband we returned, heading south and stopped at the fenced perimeter and looked longingly at the newly paved path. We contemplated getting around the fence because I'd been watching groups of runners easily scooting around and barely breaking stride. Before I knew it my husband had pushed his bike through the woods, said it was pretty easy, so I followed, my pots and stove clattering in the basket on my rear rack.

And what a smooth ride, indeed! After a quarter mile the pavement gave way to packed gravel with a new cement sidewalk spur leading to Texaco Beach.

There has been much earth work: shoring up an eroding bank, toxic soil removed or covered over because this section of the waterfront used to be an oil port, relocating path close to the lake, plus many new trees planted. There will be pause places with information signage and exercise equipment. In short, it will be an amazing improvement, but a long time coming!

It is difficult to be patient when construction seems to take forever, all this on the heels of last year's 2-3 month closure in a similar location, with the very same awful detour! But wait, we will, because , there isn't another choice...except for the times when we can't stand it, to take a peak at the progress.