Wednesday 5 September 2007

Things I've learned

Number Two.

Trains are seemingly never-ending here. Each train must be about a mile or more long. Make sure you avoid level crossings when trains are nearby cos you will have to wait and wait and wait.

We drove up to this loco (plus a mate) outside Denver on the way to Colorado Springs

and past so many of these container thingos Nathan couldn't keep count

and eventually we found the other end of the train over a minute later (and we were in a 65 mph zone)

Five locos presumably all slaved together, three at one end, two at the other.

The BNSF line runs literally straight through Fort Collins. It goes down the middle of a street in Old Town. It runs through the university. The train has to do 15mph. It takes a VERY long time to get through the old town area and blasts its horn a very great deal. It is pretty obvious when it is about.

This is why last night when I heard the train hooting its horn frantically I rode like the clappers to get across the railway line before the train reached it. I had left the LYS knitty group a bit later than I meant to and it was full on dark, so I'm belting along in the dark with my lights on (but really they are not meant for lighting the street up, more to warn car/truck drivers of my presence. And other cyclists who don't have lights, but that is another story). I heard tooting of a train. Ack. Ride fast! Faster! Must beat the train!

I beat the train by three intersections. Then I kept pace with it despite riding away and then alongside it three roads across. It was fun!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, the dangers of aiming to race the train. You do remember he's muuuuch bigger than you, yes? Granted you won by three intersections, and it was dark, and it was late, and the train was very long!

Good to hear you're out and about, seeing the countryside too. I don't recall everything having such a cost just to look, but I guess that's progress.

mrspao said...

Hehe :) Hope you had fun.