In Which I’m Thinking About Getting High

Photo I took months ago when Audrey, Ben and I rode on the High Trestle Trail.

Today is one of those deceptively sunny winter days—clouds and flurries moved in overnight, and behind those, clear skies are complete with Canadian air. It’s windy and it is cold.

Not so cold I could not ride. In fact, it’s not even the coldest day I’ve ridden my bicycle to work this week. But, an event last night had me thinking of warmer days and of getting high.

On the High Trestle Trail, that is. The MMU Bike Club had its first officers’ meeting last night, and I was there as adviser. The students are planning to resume rides near campus in March, weather permitting.

Of course, on this cold, windy winter day, I think “weather permits,” but the MMU students seem not to agree.

Anyway, Mark, our fearless leader, announced tentative plans for a bike rodeo, to feature safety rules, like “wear your helmet”—something more MMU bikers could remember—at a local school. The early April event is the club’s service project this year, and it’s a fine idea, although I still hope we can get some milkweed planting going, too.

And I suggested that the club plan a day trip to the High Trestle Trail. As it turns out, the university will supply transportation, within limits, so it’s not an expensive thing for the club to do. We’ll use an MMU van to take riders and a maintenance pickup to take bikes, and ride high in the sky. The tentative dates are either April 23 or April 30, but those are not locked in yet--I don't know, for example, if the vehicles are available then.

But the officers of the club were quickly sold when Mark Googled images of the High Trestle Trail, which pulled up lots of pretty pictures. Some showed the bridge lit up at night. My original idea was a day trip on a Saturday, but the students are interested in an afternoon-early evening trip. They want to see the lights. That partly will depend on getting more bike lights at MMU, but it’s a part of the plan I’ll be checking into.

I have to admit, when I think about getting high, the lights of the bridge sound like a good idea, too.

Morning shadows--clouds are blowing away as I finish my morning bike ride. Two views from the Rohde Plaza this morning.