Bite-Size is a new feature I'm adding to the blog. Bite-Size posts will be shorter and more informal than regular posts. They'll allow me to talk more about my interests and random things that pass through my head without having to stretch it into a 1000+ word bloviation. Enjoy!
As the first full week of November wraps up, reality is slowly sinking in. In Canada, daylight savings time has turned the clocks back an hour and night descends like a premature Grim Reaper. Carol of the Bells and Canon in D are slowly replacing the soundtracks of Halloween (1978) and Tonight She Comes, and the weather is on the precipice of taking that next big plunge towards freezing.
If you’ve read my post on Southern Ontario Bike Trails You HAVE to Ride This Fall, then you’re familiar with one of my favourite bike trails—Tiny Trail. I spent the weekend before Halloween at my family’s cottage and was able to revisit Tiny Trail before the frosty weather made bike rides too treacherous for my liking. This was my first ride on the trail since my venture the previous October. Good news—I had a car this time. No more trail time "wasted" biking the eight kilometres from my cottage to the trailhead. Bad news—the one time I have a car, the trail parking lot is closed for construction. There are weird parking rules up north too, so I was hesitant to park on the side of any random road. Thankfully, I was able to find a trusty residential neighbourhood nearby where other parked cars confirmed that no malevolent town official was lying in wait to ticket me.
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| Tiny Trail - October 2021 |
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| Remnants of the train tracks that used to run through Tiny Trail |
Honestly, as long as my fears of getting towed or fined are allayed, I love parking in residential neighbourhoods before long bike rides. It enhances the atmosphere. I daydream about living in a neighbourhood near a trail as long, impressive, and remote as Tiny Trail, setting out from the house on a breezy overcast day, spending hours revelling in the trail’s scenery before turning back just as it looks like it's about to rain. It starts spitting during the last ten minutes of my ride and then I get home and outside it starts pouring buckets. It's dark and gloomy even though it's 4 PM in October and I make some popcorn and watch a movie and maybe people are with me too and it's one of those quiet moments that makes you feel substantial and whole.
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| Tiny Trail - October 2021 |
Nevertheless, I enjoyed my ride on this bright October afternoon. It was a gorgeous day, cool but not cold, sunny and slightly breezy, the leaves’ dark yellow brought to life by the sun. The canopy overhead was blanketed with shades of yellow and green, interlaid with sporadic patches of orange and red. Evergreen pines notwithstanding, the sentry-like trees along the trail were coloured with a noteworthy amount of green for late October. A by-product of a remarkably mild September I would imagine. Accompanying these picturesque conditions were more people than I have ever seen on the trail before. Not a lot mind you, not enough to ruin the small-town ambiance and isolated beauty of the path, just more than usual. An empty trail is always preferred, but sometimes it is nice to be reminded that you're not completely alone.
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| Tiny Trail near Wyevale - October 2021 |
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| Tiny Trail near Wyevale - October 2021 |
I trekked to Wyevale before turning back—in total, a thirty-ish kilometre trip that took me a bit over two hours. It depends on my mood whether I listen to music or podcasts while I ride or not. The first half of my journey I rode earbud-less—soaking in the day and being present. In the second half, I gave in and alternated between my Halloween biking playlist and my standard overcast playlist. You can find my Halloween biking playlist at the end of this post as well as on the First Frost Josh Spotify. I’ll keep the overcast playlist to myself for now. Hint: there’s a lot of Lana Del Rey.
I'm sad that the snow will start soon and I won't be able to bike anymore. There are so many places I wanted to explore this year. Even though I'm always out doing things, it feels like I still have so much I want to do. Such is life, I suppose. Don't take an instant for granted.
Until next time.
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