Micro-Adventure 2: Klunking at the Lubbock Parks BMX Track

(Another lunch-time lesson in dirt and humility.)

I raced BMX as a kid. It was only four decades ago. I should still be good at it. Right?

The local weatherman told me a cold front was passing through -  it wouldn't reach 90 degrees until lunch. My brain instantly dreamed up the next micro-adventure: BMX, baby!

Flora and Fauna Report

Local Flora

Local Fauna: I'm gonna need a longer lens, a longer lunch, and more patience to post fauna pics, but I did see two great blue herons, one great egret, two burrowing owls, a few dozen prairie dogs, a black-tailed jack rabbit, and a half-dozen kids on Razor scooters (at the skate park).

How about the ride?

Four laps on the BMX track

Did I get air? No. Did I need oxygen? Absolutely. It's been a dry summer, so all of the low ground is sand trappy and killed any speed I built up from berms and backsides of jumps. I spent the whole time in second gear pedaling hard. Bring your fat tires. Bring your vitamin B and your A game. Definitely bring water.

Is it the best BMX track I've ever ridden? No way, Ted. Is it the best BMX track within a mile of my office? It sure is. Really, I'm impressed with the dirt features. They're not very big, but they are well built and laid out. With a little maintenance, it could be a nifty little track. As it is now, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone outside of a five-mile radius. Maybe with a little rain, though...

A half-mile of weedy double-track (aka "dirt road")

The dirt road riding was quite nice and relaxing after the sand trap. Bob almost has me talked into building a poor-boy gravel bike, so the ride had me dreaming about bullhorn handlebars, skinny-ish dirt tires, and a certain old Schwinn on Offerup. I was downright shocked when the jackrabbit shot-gunned in front of me and juked back into the weeds. The prairie dogs were less surprising as they doppler-chirped my whereabouts to rest of the village. Fat guy on a bike. Yep, I've heard it all before.

Dual purpose tumbleweed backstop/bird blind

The Wrap-up

Pond, playa, or drainage ditch - you decide.

Okay, I've been watching too many videos of people riding down mountains in the Canadian wilderness. So, no, it was not an astounding BMX klunk session. If I'd invited anyone along, I'd've apologized.

Huffy in a hybrid

But any time on a bike beats the tar out of slurping a microwave meal behind a desk. So, yes, it was an awesome lunch hour. Will I do it again? Absolutely, but it will require a more impressive cold front forecast.

May you find little adventures often, and may those adventures tread lightly. Be well, and watch out for jack rabbits and sand traps!

PS. If you're looking for the BMX track, it's literally right next to Microadventure Number 1.