The Unicorn and the Troll
I was finishing up my walk on West Clifton Blvd this morning when I heard someone yelling my name from up above. I turned in a circle before noticing a friend of mine (Bob Aber) looking down on me from his second story window. His house overlooks the street, and he asked me how my walk was going. After chatting, I noticed his daughter peeking out the window as well. She came to the ledge, and I snapped a picture of her peering down on me in her unicorn costume. It made me smile and was the perfect way to kick off my day.
West Clifton Blvd has been my favorite street to ride my bike down. The street flows steadily downhill from its starting point at Riverside until it crosses under the railroad tracks halfway between Detroit and Clifton. I have probably raced down this street at least 20 times on my tandem as I was finishing up my routes on my way home. In fact, my Strava app has called it “West Clifton to Clifton BOMB” and tracks my time every time I complete it. If I hit the lights just right, I can finish it in about 2 minutes.
Today I was walking down the street, so it took me quite a bit longer. When I came to the bridge where I am usually flying by on my bike, I took time to notice the beauty of the bridge. I think this is one of only two ways to get past the railroad tracks when a train is passing (the other being Sloan Subway). I felt like a troll peeking up in between the railway trusses. Although, I think I felt more like a happy young troll than grumpy old troll today.
