Just another GNV Saturday.
When I left the house on my bike Saturday morning it was still in the mid-40s. So I was triple layered. But as the crisp January morning thawed out I began to shed layers like a snake shedding skin.
My Saturday morning ritual is to take off on my bike, cut through campus, skirt Lake Alice (whose surface on this morning was topped by a thin layer of mist) and finally arrive at the Metro Diner.
Where members of our Saturday Morning Breakfast Club would grumble about how life was so much better before Everything Went To Hell. Or before we got old.
Whichever came first.
But I had additional rounds to make this fine morning.
Next stop was the McPherson Center, across town in southeast GNV. Where county staff was giving a briefing about its proposed Kincaid Loop multi-use trail.
Basically the loop will be a 3.3 mile, 10-ft wide trail separated from SE roads that have been the scene of pedestrian and cyclist deaths in recent years.
It’s fair to say that considerable skepticism was expressed by some area residents:
Why waste money on trails when our roads are so bad?
Why do we need a 10-foot trail when parts of the roads already have sidewalks?
And my favorite: Who’s gonna clean up all the trash that’ll be left on the trail by pedestrians and cyclists?
All of which gave me a sad sense of Deja vu.
I’d heard the same kind of “not in my backyard” comments more than 30 years earlier, when we built the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail.
Speaking of which, I left the McPherson Center and soon headed west on the G-H Trail. As per usual on a Saturday morning the trail was alive with users.
I ended up at First Mag, where my wife and more than 500 of her closest friends were participating in the brewery’s annual Springs Run.
While the runners were running I had a, um, good look around. I enjoyed a brew or two. And visited with the Mermaids For Clean Water. Because of course they are.
On my ride home I stopped at Bo Diddley Plaza, which was hosting a huge open-air clothing bizarre. I didn’t see any tie dyed, but I’m sure the stuff was there somewhere.
I did see what appears to be a growing homeless presence across the street from City Hall. A reminder that much remains to be done in our City That Cares.
But we are working on it.
Is this a great town or what?
FreeGNV 