Wile E. Coyote is still trying to catch the Roadrunner!

As children growing up in the 50s, a highlight of our week was spending entire Saturday mornings watching cartoons.  And one of our very favorite cartoons was poor Wile E. Coyote forever trying to catch the Roadrunner.  Every one of Wile E.’s complex plans was a dismal failure—meep meep.

We hung this 1950’s wall decoration in our cabin.  It was made by the Dolly Toy Company, which is now out of business. Dan collected this particular wall hanging when he had his part-time vintage toy business many years ago.  

It was hung partly in honor of Wile E. who never lost his enthusiasm to create new and brilliant (or so he thought) plans to try to catch the Roadrunner.  The other reason that the Roadrunner/Wile E. Dolly Toy wall hanging holds a place of honor in our cabin is because we have named our new e-Bikes “Wile E.” and “Roadrunner.”

Dan is Wile E.

And I am the Roadrunner.

Dan is forever chasing me through the deserts and pine forests while we are riding our e-Bikes, just like Wile E. was forever chasing the Roadrunner.

The real reason that he always rides behind me when we are cycling is very sweet.  He is protecting me.  He rides behind, further to the left of me on the edge of the road, so if there is a crazy driver coming up behind us, he would get hit instead of me.   

The past several days we have been at our cabin, cycling and hiking in the mornings and relaxing in the mountain sunshine in the afternoons.  The nights are in the high 30’s, but the days are perfect.  Boy, are we happily surprised that we can still enjoy the warmth of the sun in late November in the mountains!

Look who came through our yard (with her baby safely hidden in the trees) to say “hello” to us while we were sitting on our front porch this week.

We have found that riding our e-Bikes on dirt, rocky Forest Service roads is really a different activity than cycling with our road bikes, or even with Daisy, our tandem.  The e-Bikes are heavy (75 pounds), and if the front or back tire hits a rock or gravel at an odd angle, the bike will go cattywampus.  (Cattywampus = we fall). 

So it takes a lot of strength, concentration, and a bit of forward speed to keep these heavy beasts upright. And, obviously, there is a learning curve for both of us to stay upright on Wile E. and Roadrunner.

We have both fallen.  Dan is much more talented at dumping Wile E.  He feels it going down and jumps off.  I’m not so good….I hang on and go flying down on the rocks, with Roadrunner on top of me.

I fell two times in one day on Hardscrabble Road yesterday.  And I can attest---Hardscrabble Road is VERY hard!  

I got both of my knees bloodied up:

I’ve had horses for over half of my life, and I know what you do when you fall off a horse. You get back on the horse again…..and again!

So today, (the day after my falls), we headed up to the rim to our favorite pine forests interspersed with grassy meadows.  I got back on the horse, or, actually Roadrunner.

 

We love these bikes.  It is so intimate to be riding in the middle of nowhere all by ourselves, with only the sound of the birds and the wind in the pines.  As is typical for most of our hiking and biking excursions into the woods, we saw no one else once we left the highway.  We had a wonderful time exploring much further into the forests than we can when we hike.

 

We had a lovely hike a few days ago on the rim.  We could feel and smell the brisk, cool air of late fall.  The flowers have gone to seed and the grass has turned a pale yellow color.  But the sky is eggshell blue and the sun shines brightly.

Now, back to Wile E. and Roadrunner—the REST of the story:

Wile E. finally caught the Roadrunner.  Yesterday when I fell twice on Hardscrabble Road, Dan lifted Roadrunner off of me.  Thank you, sweetheart.  

Actually, I have found that it isn’t so bad to be caught by my Wile E!