I've had an idea for a month or so to blog about the impacts, mostly positive, that trains have had on our local bike routes around here. And I'll get to that.
But first, I wanted to talk about the wine country fires. Sad. Scary. Exhausting. Harrowing. There are many emotions surrounding these still burning fires. It's been a week since they started and they seem to keep going because of the consistently dry and windy Indian summer conditions. These fires come on the heels of many other natural and man-made tragedies, including major hurricanes in the Caribbean and Texas and the Las Vegas shootings. Not to mention the current bluster out of Washington and the potential for that to flare into WWIII! Remote as they are, these disasters still have an effect on us. But the Napa/Sonoma fires are in places we know well with people who are friends or colleagues who have lost property. Our air has been terrible, but that's nothing compared to losing a home, business or even life. The fires are centered in the area where we visit our friends in Kenwood a few times a year to escape from everyday life. It is a place where I could easily spend the rest of my life. With the windy, dry conditions continuing, others may also sadly join those who have already lost everything. Bonne chance a tous.
So back to trains, which now seem frivolous. The simple point I was going to make is that many of our routes, bike paths and more, were legacy train lines. And they've opened up many opportunities for us riders. There are places in the hills and beyond that were major train lines, but little evidence of them exists today. Even so, we bike riders get to take advantage of their earlier presence. That's enough on that topic for now.
