Train Hopping
Train Hopping

Saturday • August 14th 2021 • 9:00:47 pm

Train Hopping

Saturday • August 14th 2021 • 9:00:47 pm

Well, from time to time,
a local train blocks the way to or from my adventure.

Because the main road goes above the track,
and only bicyclists take the old stretch.

The trains can be parked there for hours,
the only other way to get across is the above overpass.

I did it once,
but it was very dangerous, and there were large holes in the road.

There was no way to get home,
but to hop over the train.

A gentleman was already fidgeting on the other side,
he must have been waiting for a while.

When I arrived at the tracks,
the breaks made a sound, but it was nothing.

We waited and waited,
until the gentleman decided to throw his bicycle over the assembly connecting the train.

I grabbed the bicycle he threw to the ground and dragged it off to safety,
as he made his crossing.


It was my time to go, and seeing that I was helpful,
he offered to help me.

But my tank of a bicycle was already half way up,
I got it up on the train car platform in a single go.

He had a sports bicycle, it was light, small, and bouncy,
my bicycle needed to go up on the train, then then I need it to push it to the other end, and pull it down.

So I quickly replied, "No, this is just part of the adventure.",
and he was already answering his own question "No you don't need help."

As my bicycle, wallet and phone, became part of the train cargo,
I had to hurry!

To get on top of the train,
I had to use the ladder.


And you know what, the moment I grabbed on to it,
I felt like I belonged there - like I was destined to be a train engineer.

Though I am a very quiet and a well mannered person,
as I pulled my self up on the ladder.

I let out a great big.
"Heeeeeeeee Hawwwww!".

The ladder had only one real step,
but it worked well, and it gave me a good and refreshing cat like stretch.

The moment I got on top of the train though,
I really don't know what got into me.

I looked at the stranger who was some feet away,
and yelled "If I don't make it down from here, I am headed to Ohhhhh Hi...O!".

The stranger quickly hurried away after that,
and it was now my bicycle, my wallet, my phone, and I who was the cargo - Yikes.

As I was standing up there gathering my thoughts,
I realized - this is pretty wild in contrast to my FreeCAD tutorials - and decided to get down as quickly as possible.

I led my tank of a bicycle, now for some reason 50 pounds heavier across the car,
and rather than going back for the other ladder decided to jump down.

I haven't jumped this far down since I was showing off when I was eight or ten or so,
instantly I misjudged the height, and as I thought I was about to land, I had a foot to go.

I landed as gracefully as a Great Warrior,
Arrr!

I grabbed my bicycle,
and pulled it down.

And just like that,
my adventure in the middle of an adventure - was over.

I was no longer a train hopping hoodlum and no goodnik punk,
I was now an ordinary bodybuilder with a tank for a bicycle.

No one will even know,
that I almost made it to Ohio.

Artwork Credit