Creepiest. Ride. Ever.

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 11.5% BF

Went out for a ride along the towpath last night, didn't get started until about 9:00 and managed to thoroughly scare the shit out of myself, with the help of some little urchins and a few wild animals...

Going along the sewerline right-of-way from Iron Street to the start of Riverside Park, you go under the 25th Street Bridge, just after passing the orphanage, or boys home or whatever. About two years ago the orphanage built an annex across from the park and paved the path, and the kids use it to get from one facility to another. Well last night a few of them must have seen me coming, hid by the bridge and jumped out -- "Boo!" -- just as I went past. Friggin' miscreants, like I don't have enough to worry about with real hoodlums, I nearly jumped out of my skin... I'll admit it was pretty funny though, I laughed too, once I got myself a little further down the trail.

Anyway, rode to Sand Island, expecting to see those "real hoodlums" near the b'ball court, but it was quiet and an unmarked cop was parked at the Ice House. Turn around and head home, and by the way I saw more wildlife on this ride (out and back) than I did in all North Carolina, but on the way home I seems that the critters were deliberately messing with me. Crashing in the woods all around, eyes peering at me in the dark, then all of a sudden I hear a a faint but terrible screaming off to my left (at the time I thought it was birds or cats, but now I think something may have killed a rabbit). It made the hair stand up all over my body, and added a few MPH to my average, just as I was hitting the only bumpy part of the ride... Bam Bam Bam, and the battery for my new $400 lighting system pops off and bounces away into the dark. I really, really didn't want to stop, but I was sure not leaving it there. Took about 5 minutes to find, another five to reconnect, all while critters (deer, most likely) were moving around by the canal, like trying to sneak away, and accidentally crashing into/through the underbrush.

Got out of Dodge ASAP after that, ran into many more critters: rabbits, feral cats near the old dump, and one little mouse scurrying along the Palmer bike path. Full moon, I tell ya.