Bloody L'elbow, Has it Come to That?

January 10, 2020

Bloody L'elbow, Has it Come to That?

"... No - we had to drag him out, remember!"

They were the saddest few words strung together I had heard uttered since... umm, since the day before yesterday. Considering out of whose mouth they came I wasn't sure what degree of seriousness I should attribute to them, but there was something in the inflection that told me the truth was there. Lordy, lordy, keep me from ever reaching such a state of affairs, I don't anyone saying they had to drag me out for a ride. Surely it would mean the end of times.

I don't usually run into people I know up on the trails of the Wilderness Park on Friday afternoons. But today, there they were - Ed and Mike, from the Two Wheel Tuesday / La Verne Brewing Company ride of the olden days of two years ago. They were just leaving the dirt, and I was just starting the dirt and, since it had been a good half year, at least, since last I saw either of them, I might very well have ridden right past with no hint of recognition if not for the fact of hearing someone call my name.

"...And someone called me by my name

It had become a glimmering girl

With apple blossom in her hair

Who called me by my name and ran..."

Alas, when I swung around there was no "glimmering girl with apple blossom in her hair," just two mud-splattered mountain bikers. Before parting ways we caught up on the latest in life changes, the new bike repair station, and I inquired about the mud, while knowing full well that it came from the seep that runs across the road part way down (or up, depending on your direction) Cobal Canyon. They mentioned that the last time they rode the Park there had been water in the stream crossing just inside the gate and, trying to figure out just when that had been, they remembered that Larry had been there, and that they "had to drag him out..." Oh, Bloody L'elbow, if you're listening, has it really come to that?

I go into the weekend with a good start and grand plans for more. Ride on!