Biking Gap Road: a sad story
As the hot weather broke from low 90s to mid 80s, a good bike ride was top of the list, especially after the miles my feet and knees captured last week at Diamond / Crater Lakes. Salsa bike only had frame and handlebar food bags – a light gear kit compared to photo below. Gap Road is a favorite ride and an OR scenic bike route.
The Route
Ate breakfast at home waiting for 60 degrees – so at 8:00 departed out Coburg road to North Coburg to Priceboro (where the fire from several years ago is hardly noticeable now) and then finally Gap Road. I took Gap all the way to the last hill decline, turned around and retraced my steps.
Wind was a minor factor on the return with some headwinds. During the ride, only 1 other biker and that near the town of Coburg.
On the ride
Raptors were plentiful the entire ride, especially turkey vultures who were out in numbers, but only 1 smaller raptor appeared – a Cooper’s hawk twice. Roadside flowers were thick with Queen Anne’s lace and purple straw flowers. Farmers were bailing straw from the grass fields and a bit of hazy air covered Willamette Valley.
As I was going down one of the hills on Gap Rd, movement caught my eye. At first, I couldn’t tell what it was given only a corner of eye and moving >20mph on a bike … stopped to grab camera and was surprised … a mother and her child nursing in the middle of a farmer’s lane. Baby’s spots still visible even in a poor photo (apologies)
Sad Story
On the return on Coburg near the aggregate plant, another Cooper’s hawk was struggling and flapping around at the side of road. I road past, stopped and returned slowly. The bird was definitely injured but I couldn’t see any external injuries. As I approached the bird hopped and struggled to the ditch and off the road. I prayed that the bird would recover and human intervention not required. To help my guilty feeling of leaving the bird, I called Cascade Raptor Center and gave them the info and location.
Such a tough decision to intervene (save the animal) to leave it alone and let Mother Nature do what she does best – survival without humans.
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