517.7
No rain. A little earlier and warmer coming home; the hills nevertheless don't seem as difficult today.
A single hawk in a tree on Rainsville, looking exactly like the Maltese Falcon. Too far away and too much shade to tell what kind, but from the size, a redtail or red-shouldered. Bunches of small birds congregate on certain wires, their afternoon social.
Dogs all along the way, protecting their turf, very brave behind their fences, can't quite keep up with me.
King Road, a fine ride down, and only one car passing on the way up.
Baby llama at the end of King is getting bigger. Grey with black spots - pretty unusual llama coloring.
Friday, January 19, 2001
511.2.
Mindless, uneventful rides home and back to work. You get in a rhythm... Warmer this morning - first without frost in a while - probably means rain is coming. Warm is good, though, for the power usage and for my bike rides.
When I'm driving, I go as far as possible out of the lane to stay clear of bikes and peds - you never know if one is going to take a fall into your path. Wish others would also drive this way - it's a little unnerving to have someone pass two feet away from you at 50mph. Granted, there may be oncoming traffic, etc., but if there's room, jeeze, why not use it?
Then there are those who creep along behind when there's room to get by. Drive Briskly, folks! Not aggressively, just... you want to get where you're going in the most efficient way possible. There's no need to crawl behind me - I'm already moving over as far as I can on the shoulder, but it's not always practical to stay there forever!
Mindless, uneventful rides home and back to work. You get in a rhythm... Warmer this morning - first without frost in a while - probably means rain is coming. Warm is good, though, for the power usage and for my bike rides.
When I'm driving, I go as far as possible out of the lane to stay clear of bikes and peds - you never know if one is going to take a fall into your path. Wish others would also drive this way - it's a little unnerving to have someone pass two feet away from you at 50mph. Granted, there may be oncoming traffic, etc., but if there's room, jeeze, why not use it?
Then there are those who creep along behind when there's room to get by. Drive Briskly, folks! Not aggressively, just... you want to get where you're going in the most efficient way possible. There's no need to crawl behind me - I'm already moving over as far as I can on the shoulder, but it's not always practical to stay there forever!
Thursday, January 18, 2001
503.0.
The Fair Ave. route is .1 mile shorter than the Rainsville route, map indications to the contrary. Go figger!
Frost everywhere this morning, scattered low-lying fog, and a big fat orange sun just peeking out at 7 or so.
Frightened a pair of pheasants, who in turn frightened me, this morning - don't know if they're native (I don't see pheasants elsewhere), but there's a pheasant farm on Skillman so they're pretty common around there. They're beautiful birds. Perhaps we should try pheasant sometime. Bet it tastes like chicken.
Construction-type guy in a pickup yelled something at me as I crossed in front of them - I think something derogatory related to my manhood and my taillight - like because I have a blinking LED taillight on my bike I am somehow less manly than if I didn't. Duh, the fact that you NOTICE it means you SAW me, which means it's doing EXACTLY what I got it for, which means I'm SMART. Or something. People who feel the need to put others down - such an obvious ploy to mask insecurities on the home front.
Oh well. No skin off my back, just a bit of morning wierdness.
The Fair Ave. route is .1 mile shorter than the Rainsville route, map indications to the contrary. Go figger!
Frost everywhere this morning, scattered low-lying fog, and a big fat orange sun just peeking out at 7 or so.
Frightened a pair of pheasants, who in turn frightened me, this morning - don't know if they're native (I don't see pheasants elsewhere), but there's a pheasant farm on Skillman so they're pretty common around there. They're beautiful birds. Perhaps we should try pheasant sometime. Bet it tastes like chicken.
Construction-type guy in a pickup yelled something at me as I crossed in front of them - I think something derogatory related to my manhood and my taillight - like because I have a blinking LED taillight on my bike I am somehow less manly than if I didn't. Duh, the fact that you NOTICE it means you SAW me, which means it's doing EXACTLY what I got it for, which means I'm SMART. Or something. People who feel the need to put others down - such an obvious ploy to mask insecurities on the home front.
Oh well. No skin off my back, just a bit of morning wierdness.
Wednesday, January 17, 2001
499.1.
King Road again. Nice fish-scaley sunset. Tempted to go a half-mile up the road just to have the round trip get me to 500, but I'll get it tomorrow.
Another great day, though, and two in a row with the all-bike commute.
I can sorta justify eating at Burger Thing or Gag in the Bag from time to time, if I'm doing all this sweating to and from work...
King Road again. Nice fish-scaley sunset. Tempted to go a half-mile up the road just to have the round trip get me to 500, but I'll get it tomorrow.
Another great day, though, and two in a row with the all-bike commute.
I can sorta justify eating at Burger Thing or Gag in the Bag from time to time, if I'm doing all this sweating to and from work...
492.4.
Again chilly, but sunny. Looking at a map, the Liberty Rd route is shorter than the Fair Ave., but it definitely feels longer - that slow climb on liberty is worse than the quick one(s) on Fair.
Well, okay - it's four miles (from odometer readings here); I thought the other was 3.5, but we'll see tomorrow.
Nothing much to report today, just another nice ride. Legs feeling the renewed activity.
I actually like the fact that my car is not currently driveable, and I'm forced to ride the bike. "Lard" knows I need the exercise, but also I have that half-hour of "meditation" on the way to work. I'm rarely thinking of anything specific while riding, other than the focus on the road ahead for debris, watching the wires and posts for raptors, listening for cars coming up behind. I'm in this peculiar receptive "intake" mode. I don't really think about the cold (now that I've got my cold-weather bikewear sort of assembled, and so not emulating Curly of the Three Stooges on downhills over 15mph "WOOP woop woop woop woop...")
And I'm more or less ready for work when I get there (after showering, getting my latte, and perhaps shooting a few racks of pool with Toby)...
Again chilly, but sunny. Looking at a map, the Liberty Rd route is shorter than the Fair Ave., but it definitely feels longer - that slow climb on liberty is worse than the quick one(s) on Fair.
Well, okay - it's four miles (from odometer readings here); I thought the other was 3.5, but we'll see tomorrow.
Nothing much to report today, just another nice ride. Legs feeling the renewed activity.
I actually like the fact that my car is not currently driveable, and I'm forced to ride the bike. "Lard" knows I need the exercise, but also I have that half-hour of "meditation" on the way to work. I'm rarely thinking of anything specific while riding, other than the focus on the road ahead for debris, watching the wires and posts for raptors, listening for cars coming up behind. I'm in this peculiar receptive "intake" mode. I don't really think about the cold (now that I've got my cold-weather bikewear sort of assembled, and so not emulating Curly of the Three Stooges on downhills over 15mph "WOOP woop woop woop woop...")
And I'm more or less ready for work when I get there (after showering, getting my latte, and perhaps shooting a few racks of pool with Toby)...
Tuesday, January 16, 2001
488.4 A bt longer ride home. It's so crisp and clear out! Winter (when it's not raining) is actually a really nice time to ride. Sun went down on my way home, those few moments of Golden light hitting the newly-green fields. King Road hill not too bad a climb, and a nice ride down, cooling the sweat. Cattle are complaining everywhere - who knows why? They're not destined for the slaughterhouse, they live on some of the most costly real estate in the world, and that grass looks pretty darn juicy.
481.9 Well, I'm a blithering idjit with cars, so may be riding the bike more for a while here.
Chilly this morning, but I bundled up pretty good, so... pretty much a standard ride in to work. Had the misfortune to be riding right during the school bus run up Skillman, so kept catching up to the stopped bus, and eating a bit of exhaust each time. Yech.
Chilly this morning, but I bundled up pretty good, so... pretty much a standard ride in to work. Had the misfortune to be riding right during the school bus run up Skillman, so kept catching up to the stopped bus, and eating a bit of exhaust each time. Yech.
Wednesday, December 27, 2000
18.5 miles, only 4 or 5 raptors - weird!
I guess I was a little earlier this morning, but I covered much the same ground, and only saw 4 or 5 hawks. One, however, I startled from a fence on the downhill side of Walker Rd., and he flew along low and just ahead of me for about 100 ft before turning off. You don't get to see the top of a flying hawk often! It was big and dark brown, so could even be a golden eagle, but was probably a red-tail. Quite chilly this morning for here - sorry to everyone else in the country, for whom "chilly" is well below freezing, but it's all relative, yes?
A couple of nice stops - top of middle two rock one the way out, very crisp and clear. Walker Road, always a delight. My lane on Spring Hill Road coming back was closed, and in general there wasn't much traffic anyway - so pretty silent out there and the sun was just starting to warm things up.
The (mostly) Mexican workers at the duck farm are still on strike. I know they're paid minimum wage at best, and I'd like to see them win, but man they leave a lot of garbage, and they've got a little shantytown going (though of course it's good they have shelter for when it rains), and it's really pretty unpleasant, to ride by. Plus I have to slow down on that nice long downhill. I know, poor baby...
Almost did the entire final two rock hill without using brakes, till a car came up behind and honked as it was passing. So still haven't broken that 41mph barrier, but suspect I will this week. And then what? I don't think I want to even try for 45, let alone 50, not on THIS bike!
Well, felt I'd be lucky to do 10 miles today, but I managed almost double that, so am pretty pleased with my riding this week so far. I have a vague idea of getting past 500 on the odometer before starting work again - that doesn't look too difficult now, especially if I ride on through the weekend... But I may try to get an off-road day in here soon. The ultimate goal, someday, is to climb Big Rock Ridge without getting off and pushing.
Undecided, whether the headlight and taillight are helpful, but I leave them on, and it does give me a little more confidence that drivers do see me as they approach.
I guess I was a little earlier this morning, but I covered much the same ground, and only saw 4 or 5 hawks. One, however, I startled from a fence on the downhill side of Walker Rd., and he flew along low and just ahead of me for about 100 ft before turning off. You don't get to see the top of a flying hawk often! It was big and dark brown, so could even be a golden eagle, but was probably a red-tail. Quite chilly this morning for here - sorry to everyone else in the country, for whom "chilly" is well below freezing, but it's all relative, yes?
A couple of nice stops - top of middle two rock one the way out, very crisp and clear. Walker Road, always a delight. My lane on Spring Hill Road coming back was closed, and in general there wasn't much traffic anyway - so pretty silent out there and the sun was just starting to warm things up.
The (mostly) Mexican workers at the duck farm are still on strike. I know they're paid minimum wage at best, and I'd like to see them win, but man they leave a lot of garbage, and they've got a little shantytown going (though of course it's good they have shelter for when it rains), and it's really pretty unpleasant, to ride by. Plus I have to slow down on that nice long downhill. I know, poor baby...
Almost did the entire final two rock hill without using brakes, till a car came up behind and honked as it was passing. So still haven't broken that 41mph barrier, but suspect I will this week. And then what? I don't think I want to even try for 45, let alone 50, not on THIS bike!
Well, felt I'd be lucky to do 10 miles today, but I managed almost double that, so am pretty pleased with my riding this week so far. I have a vague idea of getting past 500 on the odometer before starting work again - that doesn't look too difficult now, especially if I ride on through the weekend... But I may try to get an off-road day in here soon. The ultimate goal, someday, is to climb Big Rock Ridge without getting off and pushing.
Undecided, whether the headlight and taillight are helpful, but I leave them on, and it does give me a little more confidence that drivers do see me as they approach.
Tuesday, December 26, 2000
24 miles, 26+ raptors!
Perhaps overdid it a bit today (you see here almost all of the riding I've done lately), but I have the week off, and I feel really guilty about not riding much, with perfectly decent weather. Indeed, on this bike, this is the longest ride I've done in one sitting.
The hawks were out in force! Several Kestrels, Red Tails (incl. a pair of 'em fighting), Red-Shouldereds (incl. a very agitated pair screaming at me), and one confirmed Northern Harrier. A couple of unidentified ones that seemed to be somewhere between the red-shouldered and the kestrel in size. One very large, all-white-breasted one that might've been a red tail morph, but I like to think was something more exotic. Probably, it's an overweight seagull.
The route was pretty great. I've done all parts of it before, but had never put together the whole loop in quite this way. Three major hills, and many minor ones. Unfortunately, they're working on Middle Two Rock Rd at the bottom where I usually get to go for the land speed record, so the record of 41mph stands -- for now. Kind of a disappointment to have to hit the brakes on that last downhill, and to be one mile short of 25 when I got home.
If it's true that hand size correlates to penis size, Greg Lemond must have a very small penis indeed, as the gloves HE calls "L/XL" are too small for my hands - and *I'm* certainly no porn star.
Hope I'm not too sore to ride again tomorrow - had hoped to get significant (for me) mileage this week. Guess I'd be happy with at least ten miles...
Perhaps overdid it a bit today (you see here almost all of the riding I've done lately), but I have the week off, and I feel really guilty about not riding much, with perfectly decent weather. Indeed, on this bike, this is the longest ride I've done in one sitting.
The hawks were out in force! Several Kestrels, Red Tails (incl. a pair of 'em fighting), Red-Shouldereds (incl. a very agitated pair screaming at me), and one confirmed Northern Harrier. A couple of unidentified ones that seemed to be somewhere between the red-shouldered and the kestrel in size. One very large, all-white-breasted one that might've been a red tail morph, but I like to think was something more exotic. Probably, it's an overweight seagull.
The route was pretty great. I've done all parts of it before, but had never put together the whole loop in quite this way. Three major hills, and many minor ones. Unfortunately, they're working on Middle Two Rock Rd at the bottom where I usually get to go for the land speed record, so the record of 41mph stands -- for now. Kind of a disappointment to have to hit the brakes on that last downhill, and to be one mile short of 25 when I got home.
If it's true that hand size correlates to penis size, Greg Lemond must have a very small penis indeed, as the gloves HE calls "L/XL" are too small for my hands - and *I'm* certainly no porn star.
Hope I'm not too sore to ride again tomorrow - had hoped to get significant (for me) mileage this week. Guess I'd be happy with at least ten miles...
Monday, December 18, 2000
I thought my fingers were gonna fall off. It was 31 degrees F this morning at 5am, and I rode at about 7. Frost on the ground, and my fingerless gloves still wet from last week's (undocumented) splash-o-matic ride. More equipment needed for winter riding: gloves with fingers. Really beautiful out though, closest we get to a white xmas.
Seems I'm only riding once a week lately, and then only the shortest possible commute - a 7-mile round trip. Must do better! Next week, the whol company has the week off, so I look forward to doing more local riding.
Seems I'm only riding once a week lately, and then only the shortest possible commute - a 7-mile round trip. Must do better! Next week, the whol company has the week off, so I look forward to doing more local riding.
Tuesday, November 28, 2000
Worked a little late last night, and had the opportunity to see that the $100 "NiteRider" headlight was probably worth the purchase price.
It takes some getting used to, though, and perhaps some adjusting; you get about a 12-foot circle of light when it's focused about 30 feet ahead of you.
While I'd rather not ride in the dark, it does work prettty well, so it was a good thing I bought the light last week.
It takes some getting used to, though, and perhaps some adjusting; you get about a 12-foot circle of light when it's focused about 30 feet ahead of you.
While I'd rather not ride in the dark, it does work prettty well, so it was a good thing I bought the light last week.
Monday, November 27, 2000
Nice seven-mile ride last night, Walker-> Valley Ford -> Pepper. Walker Road was a nice discovery - seems to be a major hawk hangout. I've seen as many as seven hawks in the 2.8-mile stretch. Pretty good-sized hill in the middle, decent sunset there yesterday.
Not too bad on the moisture front this morning -- only stopped twice to clean the glasses. Think I might be able to find a helmet that has a built-in visor to deflect some of that. Seems like the possibilities are endless for additional spending, but what I've bought so far has been worthwhile. MUCH more confidence, that truly or in my imagination, most drivers on Skillman are gonna see me. Doesn't make me ride out in the middle or anything, but at least I feel somewhat less that I'm taking my life in my hands even when I'm so far to the right I'm practically riding in the ditch.
At any rate, REALLY don't want to lose the amount of 'muscle tone' and biking skill and mental attitude improvement I've gotten from 400 miles riding this past summer. As long as I'm riding, I'm counteracting the effects of smoking and drinking on this old body...
More often than not, rain around here is not much worse than today's, so maybe I can still get my three a week throughout.
Not too bad on the moisture front this morning -- only stopped twice to clean the glasses. Think I might be able to find a helmet that has a built-in visor to deflect some of that. Seems like the possibilities are endless for additional spending, but what I've bought so far has been worthwhile. MUCH more confidence, that truly or in my imagination, most drivers on Skillman are gonna see me. Doesn't make me ride out in the middle or anything, but at least I feel somewhat less that I'm taking my life in my hands even when I'm so far to the right I'm practically riding in the ditch.
At any rate, REALLY don't want to lose the amount of 'muscle tone' and biking skill and mental attitude improvement I've gotten from 400 miles riding this past summer. As long as I'm riding, I'm counteracting the effects of smoking and drinking on this old body...
More often than not, rain around here is not much worse than today's, so maybe I can still get my three a week throughout.
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