Start Packing?

I wonder how many people "pack heat" when they ride. I have a good friend who used to camp, hike, and do epic rides with a sawed off shotgun. He said it comes in handy when you are going across some private land with an overzelous landowner in some remote parts of the country. He is an old Marine, and nothing against our armed forces, but...you know that loose some attachment down their at Paris Island.
I guess this came to mind as I was trying out my new single speed rig on some of the "trails" that are near my house. What these trails are is what is leftover from the shipping trade and the raliroad system that used to run my neighborhood. The trails are not some pretty epic ride, as they are wide, rutted, and never maintained. For what they lack in polish, they make up for in adventure. I am a total noobie to this neighborhood, but I know a scetchy place when I see one, and this is one for the ages. This is the kind of place that you go to when you want to see how far a score from the 2 o'clock scramble will go, score some drugs, live out a derilict life, or all three wrapped into one. Lots of grafitti, some broken glass, and shreads of some teenage one-night-stands clothes, and raliroad/dock leftovers. So far it is fun, but I just have a feeling that someone is watching me, but anyone hanging on this land, is fishing, up to no good, or freewheeling around on their ATV or mountain bike. As I explore more, I think I will have a good time back there. It is great, since I will have trails that are three blocks from my house! People move deep into the burbs and pay a whole bunch for that luxury.

I will take some pictures, and continue to blog on the trails back there.

Speaking of paying a whole bunch, this hood is rapidly increasing, and soon those trails will not be there anymore. The entire area I was riding on today will be condos in the next 5-6 years. With Donald Trump, casino owners, and other developers building on the old dock land, it will all be snatched up, "developed" and lost forever. The only good thing I guess I could say about gentrification is that it will make me a whole bunch of money when we sell our house.

I live in the Port Richmond/Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Anyone with a brain could discerne what used to go on in this neighborhood. It was a neighborhood of poor imigrants and their families who unloaded ships from the early 1800's till the early 1970's. What was left in their wake was a huge tract of land that is filled with lower to upper middle class families who live in two to three story houses that live and die in their house. In beteween birth and death, they go to a catholic school, have a few babies, and go "down the shore". Now many of these folks can sell their homestead off and go live wherever they want. This seems to be happening pretty quickly. It will be nice, but I don't want the "hood" to lose it's identitiy.

We went to see "Over the Hedge" tonight. It was great. My fiance thinks the personification of animals is the most amuzing thing ever. I am a greenie, without being a hippie, so it worked out for both of us. The animation is amazing, and the general story was great. I liked some of the social commentaries on SUVs, food, and the suburbs. Go see it if you have ever lost your trails to "development". It was a bit strange with all of those kids laughing about some of the problems the animals had.