Hot, humid, rain, relief!

It was a week filled with many weather changes, which means it wasn't a great week for commuting to work by bike. The threat of rain on Monday and Wednesday convinced me to drive to work, but I rode on Tuesday even though I knew that the ride home would be very hot and humid. Wednesday evening brought a wild storm; I wish I had run outside to attempt to capture images of that very black sky, but instead I was making sure that the windows that were taking the brunt of the force of the wind was closed. I intended to ride to work today, but when I first went outside in the morning it was like walking through a wall of water. I did manage a decent after-work ride though, aided by the fact that the power at the office went off at 3:30. With the power company estimating that the earliest we would have power would be 6:30, it seemed like a good time to head home!

And this was certainly the week for power outages. I lost power at home during the storm last night - it was off from 7:30 until 1 AM. Unfortunately the smoke detectors in my house beep when the power goes out and beep when it comes back on again too, so I was awakened with the return of the power at 1 in the morning. Oh well, it was a good time to reset the clocks before falling asleep again.

The weather now? I really wish it would stay like this for weeks - or even months! The temperature today was in the low to mid-70s, with overnight temperatures cooler than that - and no humidity. I think I would be very happy living in a place that had this type of temperature year round.

Morning clouds on a day that was supposed to bring rain, but that left dry roads for an evening ride

...and a beautiful floral greeting along the side of the road on the same morning

A cool evening later in the week, wonderful wispy clouds

Camera & bicycle, companions for the weekend

It turned out to be a beautiful weekend for wandering on my bike, sunny, reasonably warm, and much less humid. I managed to get in a 40 mile ride on Saturday and a 41 mile ride on Sunday, and they were really just wandering rides. I didn't have a destination in mind, but I did have a camera with me. Sometimes I carry a camera and take few pictures, but this time the normal sights of the area just jumped out at me. Time to wander & take pictures...

A beautiful purple blossom, a perfect match to my bike!

It's funny, I've ridden down this road many times, and I've never had a side-of-the-road conversation with any cattle before. Hey cow 406, how's your day going?

This owl wizard was clearly guarding the house...

This horse & pony were enjoying their feast of grass. They were on the lawn of the house where I assume that they live; I guess no one there needs to cut the grass!

You're right - that's me, riding down the road...

Afternoon delight!

As I was riding home this afternoon, I saw a woman ahead of me on the road walking what I thought was a very large dog. I was on a very quiet road at the time - quiet in that it doesn't carry much traffic, not quiet in that there is constant road noise from I-93 which runs parallel to it.

It turns out that it wasn't a dog that was walking with her - it was a donkey! A great reason to smile...

I carry my camera with me so much of the time, and yet it hasn't made its way into my commute to work stuff. That would have been a priceless photo, but for now it will have to be a photo in my imagination.

A morning rant

Maybe I'm being overly conservative, but I don't think so. I think I'm being safe...

I rode to work this morning, and I was stopped at a red light with a line of cars when another cyclist rode up next to me, said good morning, and then promptly blasted through the red light. After the light changed, he was still ahead of me, and I could see that he was quickly approaching another red light. This time he turned right at the light, pulled a U-turn, and turned back onto the original road, circumventing the stop light.

It really annoys me when I see things like this because it makes it harder for all cyclists when some cyclists take it upon themselves to ignore the law. The vehicle code in all 50 states considers a bicycle a vehicle, subject to all of the laws pertaining to moving vehicles on the roadway. Tell me, how much time do you think this guy would have lost if he had stopped for the lights? And who would have been at fault if he had an interaction with a motor vehicle?

Following the Tour de France

...virtually, that is!

I've been spoiled over the last 2 weeks (and the rest of this one) by having an amazing cycling race to follow. I think I'm going to have withdrawal symptoms next week when there is no longer a bicycle race to watch every night. But then again, I'll no longer have to make a decision about going to sleep in time to get a reasonable night's rest to support an early morning ride to work, or staying up to watch the end of the stage!

Images of cyclists... helmets, that is! (Photo courtesy of the official Tour de France web site at http://www.letour.fr)

Hawk, resting

Amazing. You remember the hawk I saw as I was riding home from work last Friday? Well, I saw him again today. (OK, I know, it might have been a different bird.) As I drove up route 125, in about the same spot as Friday's sighting, I looked up to see a silhouette of a hawk in the trees.

I wonder if I wander down that way with a camera in hand if I'll ever be able to capture (a photo of) this beautiful but probably elusive character.

Hot, hot, hot, and humid too!

Not a riding day today... I would be happy to skip the hazy humid days of summer, and today was definitely one of them. I gave my bicycles the day off and drove into work since there were late day thunderstorms predicted. The rain didn't materialize, but it still wouldn't have been a pleasant riding day. Right now the temperature is in the mid-80s, down a little from the heat of the day, but the humidity has gone up to (about) 95% - and that's according to the National Weather Service, not according to my feelings of discomfort! Tomorrow sounds like it will be almost a carbon copy of today weatherwise, although there are predictions that the heat index will rise above 100. I think tomorrow will be another drive-to-work day, but I'm hoping to ride on Wednesday. Weather wizard, are you listening? Everyone is ready for a break in the humidity. I'll take a break in the heat too if that is an option, but humidity first!

Birds and squirrels...

It's been a good animal sighting week for me. I was riding home from work on Friday, and I was within a mile of home. At that point I was on route 125, which is a relatively high speed (50 miles per hour) 2-lane road with wide shoulders. I thought I heard something, and then - what's that? I saw a hawk (not to far from me) rising from the ground or a low branch, and flying to a perch higher up in the trees. Beautiful. It's times like that when I both wish I had my camera with me, and realize that there is no way I would be able to catch that unexpected flight. Guess that one has to be a mind memory as opposed to a photographic memory!

Then, this morning as I was riding, a squirrel made a suicide run in front of me. I've noticed for years that squirrels seem to think it's funny to see how close they can get to my bicycle wheels. This one definitely made me jump because he came out of heavy underbrush to run in front of my wheel. From where I was sitting, it was a little close for comfort, but luckily the silly squirrel safely ran in front of my wheel, no collision!

The sun returns, a good weather weekend

Ah, the sun returns. Although the weekend started with rain, the pavement was dry and my bikes were calling by mid-day Saturday. As planned, I watched the Tour de France live Saturday morning before striking out on a bicycle myself. It definitely wasn't a stellar day for Lance Armstrong and team, but Sunday's performance (from the part of an observer as opposed to a rider) seemed to be much improved. I'd really like to see him win number 7, although at this point anything can happen.

I set a target of 40-mile rides each day this weekend, and managed to ride 42 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday. I've discovered that I have some really nice 30-mile loops near home, so I rode those (actually I rode one of them in both directions) and then tacked on some smaller loops to get to my desired mileage. It's amazing how different a road can appear when it's ridden in the opposite direction.

Saturday after I got home I went to get my mail, still in my cycling clothes. I stopped to talk to a couple of neighbors, and one of them asked how far I had ridden. When I responded "42 miles", he said "no really, how far did you ride?". I finally convinced him that I wasn't kidding. It's funny, to me 42 miles is a normal riding distance, and I forget that to people who aren't serious cyclists that a distance like that seems like too far to ride on a bike. Definitely a different point of view...

Ah, purple flowers. It's been fun trying to catch shots of the beautiful summer flowers.

It's amazing the things that jump out at me as I ride or walk through neighborhoods. What a marvelous sculpture to be watching over someone's house!

Again? Rain, rain, go away...

I guess I was really lucky with the weather during my week in Maine. I knew that vacationing on the (northern) east coast brought with it the possibility of unsettled weather, but my time in Maine had more than acceptable weather. Well, except for that heavy morning coastal fog...

And 4th of July weekend was a stellar weather weekend too. Unfortunately, the week that followed was gray and damp. Those conditions more than extend into today as the remains of a tropical storm drive through our area. The forecast for today and tonight calls for a 90% chance of rain. Not only that, but the forecast amount of that wet stuff is for "New rainfall amounts between one and two inches possible" both today and tonight. That's 2 to 4 inches of rain in total. Yikes!

It sounds like it could still be raining tomorrow morning too. The bright spot in that is that if it's raining I can watch the Tour de France live instead of following my normal routine of riding first and then watching a replay of the racing action. There has to be sunshine in every cloud, right?

Hey sun! You are going to come back soon, aren't you?

Weather wizard, are you listening?

It looks like this (garden) frog is all set for both sun and rain!

Riding and resting

An active recovery from a busy and active vacation...

It was definitely nice to have a 3-day weekend. Time for relaxing, getting caught up on sleep, watching the start of the Tour de France, and getting some decent rides in too! Saturday was the start of the Tour, and the (prologue) time trial was scheduled to be on OLN at 11:30 - so for me it was an early morning ride day. I won't be able to watch the tour live most days, but I made an exception for the first day. Sunday was a long ride day - 53 miles in total, a big loop from home to Newburyport and Plum Island. I was amazed at how crowded the beaches were, but the roads (other than the one leading to the beach) were lightly traveled. Nice.

On Monday - our extra day off - I did a beautiful loop ride not too far from home, then added another (different) loop to come up with a reasonable and acceptable amount of mileage for the day. This was the second or third time this season that I did the initial loop, and this was the first time I realized that I could be quite happy doing this loop twice to get in a close to 40 mile ride. Usually when I ride 40 to 50 miles I do a big loop, but sometimes I'd rather stay a little closer to home. I suppose it's possible that I could get bored with this loop, but somehow I don't think so. It's nice to have another close-to-home alternative!

Finding this stable with a couple of young horses enjoying the grass made me smile. I wonder what this young horse is thinking!

Gazing inland from the bridge to Plum Island

I found it interesting that this "WAY TO THE RIVER" was clearly marked as a DEAD END. If you really wanted to cross the Merrimack River the right road to take was the next one!

Memories of Downeast Maine

Ah, home again. I have good memories of my trip to Maine floating in my head, but I've also uploaded photos to my smugmug gallery so you can share too.

Photos from my wander in Downeast Maine can be accessed at http://denise.smugmug.com/Travel/89603.

And just to whet your appetite, here are a couple of examples!

Tell me, how does this seagull know that the waves won't wash her (or him) away? Near Thunderhole

Sitting in a blind and watching the puffins definitely brought a smile to my face.

Red-clad feet on a purple bike

Looking for me? Surprised that there are no new blog entries? I'm off on a week-long bike tour in Maine, and while I won't be posting new blog entries while I'm on the road, I will be updating a tour journal. Please join me there!

A glorious first day of summer

Somehow, I managed to stick with my plan to rest and managed to stay off of my bike today. It was a walking day though - a little less energy expended, but exercise nonetheless.

And it was a packing day too. I'm almost ready to take off for Maine with my bike and panniers. I'll be driving as far as Bangor on Thursday afternoon, then driving the few remaining miles to Ellsworth Friday morning. Then it will be time for me and my bike to hit the road.

Walking with my camera... I can't seem to stop taking pictures of all of the beautiful spring (into summer) flowers

Nice of this ladybug to pose for me, wasn't it?

Riding, then a planned pre-tour rest...

It was a beautiful evening for an after-work ride, and I hope that today's ride will satisfy me until I'm in Maine later this week. My sensible exercise plans for this week call for a ride today, followed by a short break. I'd like to be well-rested at the start of my tour, so I'm planning to just do some walking over the next couple of days. It's supposed to be a beautiful weather day tomorrow though, so I'll have to see if I can manage to stay off of my bike!

I was hoping for flowers amid these lily pads. There were buds but no blooms - I wonder, do they close at the end of the day? No matter, they were beautiful anyway.

This birthday announcement and celebration of blow-up toys caught my eye as I rode by, and my bike wanted to play too... She said that it's close enough to her birthday that she thought the display must be for her. I didn't want to disappoint her by telling her it's probably for a child living in the house.

A Canada Goose parade

Ah, the joys of spring with flocks of Canada Goose (or can they be called Canada Geese?)...

I took a back road "get me out of traffic" loop on my way to the office this morning, and all of a sudden traffic came to an absolute halt. At first I couldn't figure out what was happening, but then I saw them. A flock of Canada Geese - multiple sets of adults and their teenage offspring - decided that it was a good time to cross the road. I suppose most people would call this a big annoyance, their antics always bring a smile to my face. My only regret is that I didn't have a camera with me in the car!

What, no bike this morning? I had considered riding in today, and the weather supports a commute to work for the first time in a long while, but I'm trying to have a sort of a rest week before heading out to Maine at the end of the week. I plan to ride after work tonight, a ride that is half the length of my usual commute. And I will probably get in some walking for the next couple of days. It's time for a rest before the ride...

Gary and cool, but ending with sunshine

I didn't trust the weather on Friday enough to bike in to work, but I did leave early enough for a late afternoon ride. That was my intent when I left the office, but somehow I just didn't feel full of energy when I arrived home, so I decided to walk instead. It turns out that was the best decision I could have made. I got a good hours worth of fast walking in, stopping every so often to snap a picture. And 10 minutes after I got home, the skies absolutely opened up. It was hard to believe how hard the rain was falling, and it was even harder to believe it when I could look outside and see patches of blue in the very gray sky. If I had ridden, I would still have been out, and my bike & I would have been soaked. I was very glad I decided not to ride...

Saturday and Sunday were both gray and cool days, although after I got home from riding Sunday afternoon the clouds finally cleared, and the sun and blue sky appeared. My rides were slightly shorter than I had planned - in the 30-mile range instead of the 40-mile range - but I think that's OK. I feel like I'm ready for my upcoming wander in Maine. I may ride tomorrow, but I'm going to try take a couple of rest days in preparation for close to a week of riding days.

This is a glimpse of the sky Friday evening just 5 minutes before I finished my walk, and 15 minutes before that absolute deluge.

A wake-up surprise

I woke up this morning to find that my brain was trying to skip a day. For some reason, I thought it was Saturday. My first question was "why is my alarm going off at its early weekday time?". My second question came up when I checked the National Weather Service forecast for today. "Hey, why is it still showing the forecast for Friday? What's wrong with this picture?"

What was wrong with the picture was a not-so-obvious brain cramp. "No Denise, it's not Saturday. You have one more work day in the week, so you'd better get moving!"

I certainly hope that this weekday / workday that feels like an extra day goes by quickly...

My bike says... it's getting closer

Only one week to go before I head out with my bike for a wander in Maine...

The general vicinity for my tour? Ellsworth, Acadia National Park, and north. I've published the start of my journal. Right now it contains my thoughts (and plans) leading up to the tour.

I'm still busy sending wishes to the weather wizard for dry weather with relatively warm temperatures for my (close to a week) of wandering. I doubt that my wishes have anything to do with it, but I'm really hoping for temperatures in between the extreme heat of last week and the 40 degree drop in temperature to the 40s and low 50s in the last couple of days!

Walking in the mist

It's either been a bad weather week for biking or I've just been a total baby. I prefer to think it's the weather...

Let's see, 80 & 90 degree weather over the weekend and into Monday quickly degraded during the day on Tuesday as the temperature reached the 50s. What a change! I heard a weather forecaster Monday morning saying that by the middle of the week he expected people to be complaining that it's been cold since March, forget about that hot, hot weather we had last week. And no, it hasn't been cold since March, but it's truly cold now! It was in the high 40s when I got home from work today, and very gray. I had been contemplating taking a bike ride, but I quickly switched to walking mode. Luckily I have the right clothes for playing outside in this kind of weather!

To be honest, I had a really hard time getting myself out of the house, but I was glad once I started. I wasn't over-dressed, so the first few minutes were a bit chilly - but that's not too bad a sacrifice for a comfortable hour outside. It wasn't really raining, but the mist was so heavy it almost seemed like there were raindrops. And you could see the mist...

I was a bit wet when I got home, but not soaked through. I'd have to say it was a successful wander in the mist. I'm still hoping to get some biking in before the weekend, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a walking week!

Unbelievably bad drivers

Boston drivers definitely have a bad reputation. And some of the drivers deserve it, including the driver who passed me this morning. I was on a typical narrow New England road, and the light up ahead turned yellow. I was far enough from the intersection that it was time to stop; racing through that light wasn't the right thing to do.

And then... I have to admit I haven't seen this bad behavior before. The driver behind me was turning right, and he was obviously in a hurry. Right turn on red was allowed, but there wasn't enough room to the right of me to pull through (narrow road, remember?). So this idiot pulled to the left of me to turn right in front of me. He had no idea whether there was traffic coming from the left or if there was traffic from the left that was turning into the lane he had driven into in the wrong direction. Unbelievable. Luckily there was no oncoming traffic...

Hot and humid, but a bikeable weekend

My late June vacation is planned; now all I have to do is make sure I'm in good biking shape. I'll be heading to Maine for (almost) 6 days of cycling. The almost day is the day I'm scheduled to take a boat ride out to Machias Seal Island to visit the puffins that live there. Knowing me, I'll probably manage a short ride in the afternoon - after the puffin visit.

The weekend was hot, hot, hot, and humid too, but I still managed 3 good rides. I had hoped to ride to work on Friday, but the forecast called for afternoon thunderstorms so I chickened out. The forecast was a bit off. The gray morning sky gave way to sunshine, and I was able to get a ride in after work. Saturday and Sunday were both riding days, so I was able to finish the week with 162 miles under my wheels. Not bad at all!

I'm afraid that the upcoming week has a bit of an iffy forecast calling for rain and thunderstorms every day. I suspect that it's not going to be a great riding week, but I also think I could use a rest day or two.

Happily wandering down the road in sunlight on a hot, hot day!

Home before the storm

Talk about luck! Yesterday was a sunny day. There were some clouds in the sky, but overall I'd classify the day as belonging to the sun. And it was a commute to work by bike day too...

As I got closer to home, I noticed that the sky was getting darker. No problem though, I arrived home perfectly dry, put my bike in its non-moving home (OK, it lives in the garage!), and showered off the sweat. Hmmm... why is it so dark in here? It was about quarter after 7, which at this time of year is still pretty much daylight, but the sky had just turned totally black. I walked outside to the initial spattering of raindrops, and in spite of the black I could still see clouds and some very small patches of blue. Then, the sky lightened up a little, and the rain absolutely started pouring down.

Wild rain, amazing lightening, and loud cracks of thunder... I have to say it was very good to be home and under a roof!

1000 miles!

A goal reached, 1000 miles on my bike so far in 2005!

I've been keeping track of my bicycling mileage - all of my exercise, actually - for a number of years. And somehow, reaching the first 1000 miles in the year has become a good milestone and a good indication of my fitness for my bicycling endeavors. The first 1000 each year seems to go by slowly, while the rest seem to build quite nicely. That's probably because the early months of the year contain only short occasional rides, but it's turned into a sort of a challenge for me to reach that first 1000 at the same time (or earlier) than in previous years. You're right, that's not always possible in years that I am slowed by our wacky weather here in the northeast.

But I feel pretty good today. My first morning ride was with friends. We had planned a 20 to 25 mile ride, which I knew wouldn't quite get me to my goal. Our planned ride turned out to be 22 miles in heat and humidity. I needed another 19 to hit my 1000-mile goal, and I was determined not to wait until later in the week. After we finished our ride (my first ride) and stood around chatting for a while, everyone else headed home. I took a quick nourishment and sunscreen break, and then I headed out to get the remaining 19 miles under my wheels. Today was a good day to reach that initial 1000-mile goal!

Happy feet clad in red shoes, cycling down the road in the sunshine.

A good case of helmet head, in between my two Sunday rides. Two? I was too close to 1000 miles to stop after one!

It's about time!

...I rode my bike to work today, and now I feel like I'm really back in riding shape!

Wow, that really felt good. I've been trying to find the right day - really the right weather - to start commuting to work by bike again. I'm a fair weather commuter in that I require plenty of daylight, reasonable temperatures, and preferably dry conditions. It was just barely 50 degrees and foggy gray this morning, but the forecast is for sunshine and temperatures in the 70s by the end of the day. I had intended to leave the house by 6, but I didn't quite have my act together and my bike and I rode through the door at 6:30. A good ride, a quick shower at the Marriott across the street from my office, and I was ready for the day. And - a huge plus is that I get to ride home again this afternoon.

I had a good laugh with my colleagues when I got to the office - they suggested that I call someone before I leave the house on the mornings when I am biking in so that they know to get worried if I don't show up. No, we're not going there - but I am wearing my Road ID. That will help prevent anything bad from happening, won't it?

I'm happy...

Confirmation of my suspicions

May this year seemed to be a never-ending month. I feel like I spent the month complaining about the weather. At first I thought it was just me - and the other crazy cyclists I know who also wanted to be out on the road - but by the end of the month I was hearing complaints from (seemingly) everyone.

The National Weather Service just published a summary of the month's weather, and no, I wasn't imagining things. Here's some of what they had to say:

MAY 2005 WAS AN UNUSUALLY COOL AND GLOOMY MONTH FOR MUCH OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. MOST CLIMATOLOGICAL STATIONS RANKED MAY 2005 WITHIN THE TOP 5 COOLEST IN AT LEAST 100 YEARS OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. IN ADDITION THE BLUE HILLS OBSERVATORY IN MILTON MA ONLY RECORDED APPROXIMATELY 34 PERCENT SUNSHINE FOR MAY 2005...THE SECOND LEAST SUNNIEST MAY SINCE 1888.

MAY 2005 - COLDEST MAY SINCE 1967 IN BOSTON, 4TH COLDEST ON RECORD ...IN ADDITION THERE WERE ONLY THREE DAYS DURING THE MONTH WITH ABOVE AVERAGE DAILY MEAN TEMPERATURES.

TOTAL PRECIPITATION WAS 3.98 INCHES...JUST 0.74 INCH ABOVE NORMAL ...MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION OF 0.01 INCH OR GREATER OCCURRED DURING 19 OUT OF 31 DAYS OR SEVEN DAYS MORE THAN NORMAL. MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION WAS ALSO RECORDED ON EVERY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY/HOLIDAY DURING THE MONTH EXCEPT SATURDAY MAY 14TH.

No wonder it was such a depressing month. Here's hoping that June turns out to be a bit more spring-like.

Success! 3 days, 3 bikes, 4 rides

Four rides? Well if you count Friday afternoon, yup, 4 rides! And all of my crazy bikes got a chance to ride with me over the weekend - one at a time, of course.

I've been trying to plan a biking vacation (or two), but it's been difficult without knowing whether I'm back in prime biking condition. My goal for this nice long weekend was to do three reasonable length rides and to see how I felt at the end of the weekend. And - I think I'm back!

My weekend started a little early when I decided to take advantage of what turned out to be a beautiful Friday afternoon. I left work at 3 - a bit early, but it felt like the right thing to do - and headed home to join forces with one of my bicycles. My bike & I managed a nice 22-mile late afternoon ride. It definitely felt good to be back out on the road, my first ride since last Saturday's jaunt with Robyn & Jean. (Weather wizard, please listen - you're not supposed to keep us off of our bikes at this time of year!) It was amazing how messy some of the roads were - lots of leaves and small twigs scattered across the road surface. And it was scary that I saw several trees down not too far from my house. The roads were mainly dry, although there were enough spots where the road was totally covered with water that my bike requested (and received) a nice wash when we returned home. Clean, and ready to hit the road again!

Saturday? It was an absolutely beautiful day. I headed out to Robyn's in the morning, and we did a really nice 27-mile ride. Both of us had afternoon (non-biking) plans, so that was the length ride that we'd planned. I thought that was fine, but apparently my bike decided she wasn't done! I drove home, did a few weekend errands, and then my bike jumped out of the car and we were on the road again - 15 more miles.

Sunday started with wet roads, so I started my ride later than expected - waiting for the roads to dry out! It was cloudy, but it was still a pretty good riding day. I was rewarded for riding by coming around a corner to see a blue heron standing in the middle of a pond. Later in the afternoon, I saw the sun reflected in a pond. Still a nice day. Not too much later I started to see very gray clouds. And more gray clouds, dark and threatening. At that point rider passed heading in the opposite direction. He looked up and said "you know we are both going to get very wet, don't you?" He was absolutely right, and when I was about 4 miles from home a steady rain started. Too bad I didn't have my rain gear with me! Oh well, it was still a good ride - 45 miles worth of good.

It was just amazing to see this heron standing quietly in the middle of this pond (although it's also possible that it is standing in a field that just happens to be covered with water). I wish I'd been able to get a little closer, but I suppose I should be happy with the posing bird!

This reflection shows clouds, but blue sky too... The blue disappeared not long after I stopped to take the picture.

Monday dawned with clear blue skies. The weather forecast called for a high probability of rain and afternoon thunderstorms. Do you think I listened? Nope. Out we headed (my bike and I)... It probably would have been smart to combine some shorter loops near home, just in case - but I didn't do that. I was afraid that if I started on a shorter loop that I would get bored and head home without completing my target mileage. I headed to Beverly (on the coast) and then up to Ipswich before turning towards home again. My goal was a 50 mile ride, and when I got home I'd done 54. The first time I got caught in the rain was just outside of Ipswich, a good 20 miles from home. I was able to share a road-side shelter - actually probably a place that a local farmer uses to sell produce in the fall - with 2 motorcycle riders. We stood and talked during the heavy part of the rain. I kept looking up and wondering how the water was falling on us since there was blue sky immediately above us! That little break lasted only about 10 minutes. The road was a bit wet, but it dried out fairly quickly. The second time the rain started I was in North Andover, but still 3 or 4 miles from home. That stopped fairly quickly. I was really lucky though, considering the downpour with loud cracks of thunder and visible cloud to ground lightening strikes that greeted me as I pulled up to my house at the end of the ride. Talk about dumb luck and good timing!

I'm so glad that I've developed a habit of taking my camera with me. When I saw this donkey standing next to the fence in his very large field, I just had to stop to chat with him and to take a few pictures.

I'm definitely happy with my biking mileage this weekend, a total of 165 miles. I think I've proved to myself that I'm ready to start touring again - so now I should be able to put some plans into place. I think I'm going to start with something relatively short - a 5 or 6 day tour in Maine in late June. My initial thought is Bar Harbor and north, but that could change. Since late June is not very far off, I think I'd better try to firm up some plans this week!

Is this the face of a happy cyclist? I think so!

More pictures? The photos from this weekend are on the last two pages of my It's spring! 2005 picture gallery.

Gray & gloomy - but I saw a patch of blue this morning

Really! To bad it's gone again...

When I woke up this morning and peeked out the window, I actually saw blue skies. Finally! Unfortunately by the time I took my morning shower and headed downstairs for breakfast, the sky was once again covered in gray - lighter than the gray of the last few days, but still gray. We've had a lot of rain this week - based on reports on the National Weather Service site, towns close to mine are reporting that there was over 3 inches of rain. I really wish that the weather wizards would listen when all of us say "enough!".

I started the week in the gym, but I quickly switched back to walking outside. My bicycling rain jacket turns out to be good garb for wet walks - the only part of me that got totally soaked was my feet. I just bought a new pair of running shoes to support my walking habits, but I've been sticking with my old shoes this week. My feet want the cushioning of the new shoes, but I'd hate to start out by trashing the new shoes this early! So far this week has had one day of exercising indoors followed by 3 days of very wet but decent length (fast) walks. I'm still hoping for things to dry out by this afternoon - my bikes are screaming to go out and ride.

Still hoping for dry weather... I'd like some sunshine too, but I'll settle for dry.

Gray, gray, and wet too

The weather forecast for this week is only good for folks who really like cool, gray, and wet weather. Today's weather forecast was for a 20% chance of rain, with pretty solid rain forecasts for much of the week. I was hoping to get at least one weekday ride in by heading out on my bike after work today - but the rain started in the middle of the afternoon. Rain and cold, what a combination! Guess it's time to head back to the gym...

I was listening to the news while I was working out, and the weather forecaster said that all but 2 days in May were below normal temperature levels, and that much of the month was gray and wet. No wonder the weather is getting to me! I'm just hoping that the scattered showers that are predicted for the upcoming holiday weekend are just that - scattered - and not more solid water.

An anniversary that deserves notice

Yes, this is it - the anniversay of my stellar impact with the pavement, of flipping my bike over and landing on my head, of my crash. I had hoped to celebrate the day with my first bike commute to work of the season (and since the crash), but I woke up to cool weather - temps in the low 40s - and a forecast of possible rain later in the day. Hoping that the rain wouldn't come until very late but being scared off by the temperature, I drove in to work, arriving early enough to put in a full day and leave at 3:30 - plenty of time to pull off a decent after-work ride. Of course the forecast of rain wasn't right; it was beautiful by late afternoon with some sun, and temperatures in the mid 60s. I had a good end-of-the-day celebration ride, which I think was the best way to celebrate surviving that accident.

Truth be told, I don't think I'm quite back to my pre-accident cycling shape. I honestly don't know if that is due to the accident or if it is due to our very wet and cool spring. Putting in two decent (but not really long, 30+ mile) days of riding still leaves me feeling tired on the third day, and my goal is to be able to ride 50+ miles day after day. For my work commutes, I need to be able to put in a 30+ mile day plus a full day's work in between my rides to and from work. I think I'd be happy with commuting 2 or 3 days a week by bike, although 4 would be ideal. And for touring? Well, that's the 50 mile a day goal, and I'm not there yet. Soon, I hope!

And I hope that the weather wizard is listening to my goals, because I think I need the wizard's help. The last week of May is ahead, and it sounds like it will be a continuation of wet and cool. So weather wizard, please, please, please put in a change for June. I need to be back to the normal Denise.

What better way to celebrate than by getting out and riding my bike? That red spot surrounded by black & blue on my face? Yup, you're right - it's still left from the crash.

Hide & seek with mother goose

I've been trying to escape from the office for a short walk in the early afternoons. A little bit of light exercise as a work break always helps, and some days I get a good laugh out of it too.

Today was the day for playing hide & seek with some Canada Geese. Yesterday I saw what appeared to be a whole flock of geese, quite a few adults surrounded by their young - so today I brought my camera with me in the hopes of getting some pictures. I have to say it was hard finding shots where the birds were standing still. The geese today appeared to be in family groups; that is, I would see a pair of adult geese (I assume mother & father goose) along with a bunch of "children". The funniest were a pair who were separated from me by some bushes. One of the adult geese would scrunch down behind the bush, then pop his (or her) head up to see if I was still there, then scrunch down again, then... Well you get the pictures. I was definitely laughing, but the silly bird was moving too fast for me to capture the scene with my camera!

If I walk fast do you think I can get away from that camera?

Babies happily eating surrounded by the safety net of mom & dad!

A rest day?!

What? A day without exercise? I came home from work thinking it was a day for walking, but then I faced up to how I was feeling. Tired! I have to keep telling myself that it's OK to have a day without exercise. Somehow I was substituting walking days for riding on those semi-tired days, and I don't really think that walking at a fairly fast pace for 60 to 90 minutes qualifies as resting. OK, I'll rest...

I looked back at my exercise log for last week and discovered that I had actually put in a week with decent riding mileage. My total for the week was 135 miles. (Uh oh, watch out - she's complaining again!) So why am I complaining? I had two decent 33 - 35 mile rides, and the other 4 day's rides were between 14 and 18 miles. Overall the mileage sounds decent, but my body's reaction to the miles isn't what I'd hoped for by now. A decent but chilly 35 mile ride on Monday felt good, but the 14 miles on Tuesday felt pretty bad. My rides on Thursday & Friday were good too - in the 18 mile range. Saturday was another decent ride of 33 miles. Sunday? I only pulled off 18 miles, and again I was pretty tired. I'm having a hard time accepting not being able to pull off multiple days in a row of semi-decent mileage. Again, I'm trying to plan a touring vacation, and I haven't yet come up with a tour that eases up on the mileage. I think I'm trying, but then I somehow go back to what I really want to do - and that is to once again pull off multiple days of riding with the daily miles under my wheels of around 50 miles.

OK, OK, today is a rest day - and it should also be an ease up on myself day! Tomorrow...

Popping leaves

It's amazing - the leaves seem to have popped out overnight. I noticed that the tree in my front yard that had leaves and tightly closed (barely visible) buds on it Friday morning was fully in bloom when I got home in the evening. And on my commute this morning, the heavily tree'ed Route 125 through Andover has changed once again to have a ceiling of green. On Friday, there were still a lot of seemingly bare branches. Obviously they couldn't have been bare, but must have had small rolled (early versions of) leaves on the branches. This morning? Fully formed leaves, and very green!

Is it too much for the weather wizard to help greet all of these leaves with a touch of warm weather?

Gray sky, cool temps, but a dry weekend

Luckily the very wet weather that was forecast for the weekend didn't happen. It was gray, and it was cool, but for the most part it was dry.

I had planned to ride on Saturday with some women I "met" through the Team Estrogen forum, and we ended up canceling because of very gray skies and some short-lived rain in the area where we planned to ride. As it turns out, we could have ridden and stayed dry, but that wasn't obvious early in the morning. Robyn & I have already planned a replacement ride for next Saturday. I did manage to get in a decent 33 mile ride yesterday, doing several loops so that I was never a long distance from home. It was cool enough out that I didn't want to be very far from home if it started raining - I figured I'd get wet but not frozen... Today was even cooler and the skies were more threatening. I waited until mid-afternoon to go out, hoping that the temperature would rise. It didn't, but I rode anyway. A shorter ride today, and a ride in which I was again fighting a lower than desired energy level. I've got to get rid of that feeling... Oh well, I'll just have to keep fighting, training, and striving to improve. And I clearly need to do some more talking to the weather wizard too.

Grumble, grumble...

It's supposed to be spring, and I'm supposed to be back in prime cycling shape, but... OK, maybe it's my time for complaints. And maybe you want to skip this blog entry - but I figure if I get it out then maybe I won't feel the need to bore you with this in person!

I can't do anything about the weather except to accept what dawns every day. Or give in to my desire to escape the northeast and figure out where I really want to live... I'm not quite ready for that, so I guess I just need to figure out how to work with this non-ideal weather - especially on the weekends!

While I'd like to believe I'm in control of my own fitness, I'm not sure that I have total control over that either. It's been almost a full year since my crash, and my expectations (and hope) are that I should be back to my normal self and ready to ride. But am I there? I've looked at and compared my exercise logs from last year and this year, and I'm almost exactly in the same place as far as bicycling mileage goes. Unfortunately my energy levels aren't the same as the levels in my memory. My biggest riding weekend this year was 4 weeks ago. It consisted of 32 miles on Saturday and 38 on Sunday - and was followed by a very tired Monday. Unfortunately the weather has conspired against me since then and the rainy weekends haven't allowed me to repeat that mileage and attempt to extend it. I took last Monday off with the hopes of getting in three consecutive decent days of riding. The weather conspired against me, and the only rideable day of my 3-day weekend was Monday. I had a good but chilly ride along the New Hampshire coast, but Tuesday was a tired day. I am managing to get some riding in during the week though, and I'm sure that is helping. I'm not quite ready to commute to work by bike and be capable of putting in a full days work too, but attempting to get in 15 to 18 mile rides 2 or 3 days during the week has to be helping.

My sister and my mom have both told me I'm being too hard on myself, and it's quite possible that they are right. I just don't want to accept that. And I really want to get back to vacations on my bike. The problem? I need to be able to pull off consecutive days of riding a decent distance, and I don't seem to be quite there yet. I'd like to be able to ride between 50 and 60 miles each day, but maybe I could settle for 40 to 50 to start. I've thought out a tentative long weekend trip to Nova Scotia for the end of June, but I haven't made any reservations for places to stay - or for the ferry - because I'd like to be a little more confident that I am ready for the distances I'll need to bike. Not only ready, but ready to happily get back on the bike the next morning. Maybe I need to check the maps again and see if there is a slightly shorter option. I have a feeling that the problem with my early plans are that they involve 5 days of riding, and the middle 3 days are all about 50 miles. It's a good goal, and it's a good dream, but is it too much? I'd like to plan a longer trip for later in the year too. I'm hoping that late summer or early fall is a realistic goal for that.

It looks like this weekend won't be ideal for riding since rain is forecast yet again. Hopefully I can get some riding in though, and there's a 3-day weekend coming up in just 2 weeks. Hopefully I can use that weekend as my slightly delayed test of whether I can pull off 3 decent riding days in a row. I hate to wait that long to finalize plans for a June long weekend, but I also don't want to make plans that I feel I need to cancel. Last minute travel isn't my usual style, but maybe it will work for me this time...

OK, it that enough of a complaint for today?

I'll keep working, and I'll keep dreaming, and hopefully my dreams and goals of traveling with my bike will be met this year...

Weekend plans must be made to be changed...

Three days, three states, and three rides... those were my unfulfilled plans for the weekend. A springtime nor'easter quashed my riding plans for Saturday and Sunday, but Monday was another story. I had intended to ride near home - in Massachusetts - on Saturday, and I had planned two rides along the coast - in New Hampshire & Maine - for Sunday & Monday. Obviously I didn't take the weather into account! I guess I thought that we'd already had enough wet weather, especially since this was the third weekend in a row of solid rain.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty much wash-out days. I had arranged to take the day off today, and I woke early fully thinking it would be raining and I'd trade today for a dry day later. No rain, although the sky was gray and the ground was wet. I decided to take a chance with the forecasted 20% chance of drizzle...

I headed to the New Hampshire coast to do an out and back ride. Luckily my cycling started by heading north, and finished by heading south. There was still quite a bit of wind left from the weekend storm, and it was blowing to the south. My ride out was definitely slowed. I was lucky and the wind direction held so on the ride back I had a bit of a wind assist. It was a cool day, starting in the high 40s and warming to the mid-50s. A bit of a chilly start, but once I got moving it was warm enough for riding. 35 miles in an out and back ride along the coast - and I felt good when I finished. That's a good sign.

Yes, the flags are really standing striaght out in the wind. Luckily the wind direction didn't switch on me, so the ride back was much easier than the ride out.

The sea gulls didn't seem to be bothered by the wind...

And the waves were pretty wild!

A cool walking week

Not much biking this week - it was a cool week that continually threatened rain, which somehow sent me back to walking as my primary form of exercise. As it turns out, I could have ridden - and stayed dry - on 2 of my walking days. And now that it's about to turn into a weekend, a nor'easter is promising to visit. It sounds like we're in for at least 2 if not 3 days of very wet weather. That certainly doesn't do much for my plans for riding this weekend. Oh well...

I did manage to get some nice photos on my walks though. I've included a couple below, or you can go directly to my It's spring! 2005 smugmug gallery.

It's fascinating watching the changes as new leaves start to make their presence visible.

All different types of daffodils - this one with a very shallow center. Beautiful!

And tulips in a wonderful shade of pink...

Wet again... weather wizard, you aren't listening!

The sun has finally reappeared after another very wet weekend. The week wasn't too bad - I managed 3 after-work bike rides - but the weekend was another story. Yesterday's ride was too short, and wet from the beginning. It was just starting to spit at the start of the ride, but it wasn't enough to cancel. But the rain got steadier, and a shorter ride than planned seemed like a good idea. Then it managed to rain on and off until late this afternoon. The sun finally came out a little after 5... too late for my riding plans.

I did spend some time pouring over maps of Nova Scotia, in an attempt to plan a long weekend get-away at the tail end of June. I was originally thinking of using last year's canceled plans, but then I realized that I had a 70 mile riding day in there. That's really too far right now. I'd like to think that by the end of June I can pull off a loaded day of that length, but I don't think that's smart planning. Right now I'm leaning toward heading from Yarmouth to the north, which keeps me on the Bay of Fundy side rather than the Atlantic side of Nova Scotia. I think I can pull off a slightly shorter day - like around 50 miles. Well, that doesn't feel short to me right now with my non-riding weekends, but hopefully it's a realistic goal. So I've gone from considering doing the entire long weekend in Maine to again thinking I'm going to Nova Scotia. I suppose I'll need to make up my mind soon...

I did a fair amount of wandering with a camera too, and I was rewarded with seeing some amazing flowers. It really is spring, even though the weather isn't cooperating nicely from a riding standpoint.

The sun peers out at the end of a very wet weekend!

As predicted, it was definitely a weekend filled with rainy, dreary days. I kept trying to head out for a walk this morning, and every time I opened the door it seems like the rain faucet was turned on again. I finally got out at a little before 1, and surprise, surprise! While I was out walking, the sun finally made an appearance. It was more than a peek through the clouds - by the time I returned home it was to a beautiful blue sky. After a short rest, I changed into biking clothes and headed out on two wheels instead of two feet. It was a late start for a ride, but I figured a short ride was better than no ride.

I wish, I wish, that some of the warm weather that we had last week would repeat itself. Based on the weather forecast, it appears that the upcoming week will be a more typical spring week with cooler but reasonable temperatures, and with more of that wet stuff. I'm still hoping for the chance to get in one or two rides after work, but I have my doubts about whether the bikes & I will get out again before the weekend!

Th e good side of all of that water coming down from the sky is that (baby) leaves are starting to make an appearance. Green is good!

And flowers in bloom always cause smiles...

Ending the week walking...

...but wait, shouldn't it have been riding?

I headed home at 4:30 (after a full day of work, another 7:30 arrival...) with the thought that I would get a ride in tonight. It was a little cool, but the sun was still shining, and today was the last we were supposed to see of the sun this weekend. Somehow I arrived home with very little energy. My options: a ride, or a brisk walk. I felt like I would be riding through molasses, and the energy I need for a decent walk is somewhat less than I need for what I would consider a decent ride. The decision - a walk! It's funny, even at my low level of energy I managed a walk in a reasonable amount of time. At least I was outside...

I still need to figure out how to boost my energy levels. I suspect that not getting the amount of sleep that my body seems to want may play into this. The questions is how to get the right amount of sleep. I'm working on it!

A good thing about my walk is that I had my camera with me - just to capture the funny creatures like this that I met along the way!

Bare legs?

Hmmm... 3 days of (false) summer this week led me to change my work attire for my legs & feet. I wear tights in the cold months, and bare legs in the warm months. Last fall my bare legs and sport sandals (Chaco Z1s, what else!) lasted until late October when I headed off to Hawaii for a week and then returned to noticeably colder weather. This season? After 3 days of summer-like weather, comfortably heading to work wearing my normal skirt - but with bare legs - I don't think I can go back to wearing tights. I wonder how long this will last...

A peek at a season yet to come

All I can say is wow! What a nice couple of days from a weather standpoint...

Monday was beautiful, in the 70s but a bit windy. Unfortunately, I really did myself in over the weekend, so I ended my work day in a state of exhaustion. I headed home at 4:30 anyway hoping that with a quick snack I might regain enough energy to hop on my bike, but it just wasn't to be. I think I would have been very unhappy with a ride in that state; it would have felt like I was pushing through molasses. It was too nice to sit at home though, so I headed out on a walk, pushing myself to walk at a good clip and stopping every so often to snap pictures of the daffodils. Smart? Probably not, but I was much happier when I got home after the walk. You didn't really think I was going to rest, did you?

Today was much better in terms of energy, in spite of the fact that I got very little sleep last night. I really have to figure out my ongoing sleep problem - my body seems to need 8 hours of sleep, but it very rarely allows me to get it! Anyway, I again headed home at 4:30 and was able to get in a (respectable) 20 mile ride. I'm hoping to repeat that tomorrow before our early glimpse of summer (with predicted temperatures in the 80's!) turns back into cool, wet spring days.

A sunscreen weekend...

...means two days on the bike!

After our April snow on Tuesday, the weather started to behave a little better. It stayed cool until the weekend, so my exercise during the week was limited to walking. The weekend dawned sunny and warmer though, and my bikes were crying out for a ride. Saturday was in the 50s, but today the temperature got up over 70! What a treat! Even yesterday's ride, which required knee warmers and a long underwear tank under my biking jersey, was a pleasure. It is so nice to be riding unencumbered by extra clothing.

My ride distances? 32 miles on Saturday, topped off by 38 miles today. I have to admit that today my body wanted to stop a lot earlier than my mind did; 38 miles was a bit of a compromise. That was quite a jump from my previous high mileage day for the season at 26 miles, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, and I'm really tempted to ride to work, but I know that wouldn't be smart at this point in time. I have to admit I was pretty tired after my ride today. I still need to work to increase my endurance. While I am capable of pulling off the round trip bike ride, I believe that doing the ride and sandwiching a full day's work in the middle would be hard. Soon, I hope...

In the meantime, I've been trying to get to the office by 7:30. That allows me to leave - without feeling guilty - by 4:30. That's just before the traffic builds, so I can get home quickly and get a ride in at the end of the day. Do you get the feeling that I think springtime = riding?

How many states have you visited?

I don't know why, but today I started thinking about how (when?) I am going to get to the 5 states that I have not yet visited. I've been stuck at 45 states for a few years now - and it's funny, when I look back at my cross-country ride the only state that I entered for the first time was Kansas!

Tha missing states? South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia. As far as I can tell it's going to take a minimum of 3 trips to get to these 5 states. What I'm thinking right now is long weekends...

The first is likely to be South Dakota and Nebraska. I really want to visit Badlands National Park, which is in the southwest corner of South Dakota. I figure that I'll take the time on that trip to drive into the corner of Nebraska. Maybe I'll even find something interesting to see while I'm there!

The other 3? Well, I've got a bit of reading to do to find something that interests me in those states. I really regret not getting to Mississippi & Arkansas on a business trip several years back. I had to go to a meeting in Memphis, and I wanted to eat dinner on the run and loop through Mississippi & Arkansas. That would have been an easy way to get to those states, but the colleague I was traveling with insisted on going out to dinner. Hindsight? I should have dropped him off at a restaurant and headed out wandering on my own!

One of these days...

An April walk --- in the snow!

I walked out of work this afternoon to wet - what I thought was a cold rain. But wait, what's that blob? Yes, it really was snowing! I headed home, determined to get in my planned exercise of a fast walk outside. The snow continued for the entire time I was out, but at least it didn't stick! In the midst of the snow, I saw bright yellow daffodils and robins hopping and flying around.

Weather wizard, are you even there? We've really had enough for the season; it snowed in early to mid-November, and here it is snowing again in mid-April. Can we skip forward to summer? OK, I understand no summer yet - how about a real spring, at least for a couple of weeks?

A sure sign of the (finally) changing season

Ah, the first ride of the season in shorts and a jersey. No tights, no knee warmers, no jacket...

I spent most of this beautiful spring weekend out of town, visiting my folks and meeting their new dog Bailey, but my first activity on arriving home this afternoon was to get out on my bike. It was actually 70 degrees out - very hard to believe! And what a wonderful feeling it was to be riding in (close to) summer cycling clothes. When it really turns into summer I usually ride sleeveless jerseys, but a short-sleeved jersey felt just right today. And I have to admit that I feel for all my fellow cyclists who live in Colorado - I'd prefer not to experience that late-season snowstorm that cropped up out there today!

Bailey, posing for the camera, and in the true dachshund spirit - asking for more food! More pictures of Bailey can be found in his photo gallery at denise.smugmug.com/gallery/476289

It's the week for funny photos...

I guess this is just my week for noticing funny photos. I participate in a discussion group on the Team Estrogen web site, and one of the women posted the photo below of two people on a tandem. I loved that the front rider appears to be cycling hard, and the woman on the back is along for the ride with her arms and legs thrown high in the air! I actually saw something similar when I was riding between Telluride & Frisco, Colorado on my cross-country trip back in 2002 - a man and a child on a tandem. The little girl had her feet thrown over the handlebars while her dad continued pedaling. I guess she'd had enough of cycling for the day!

Image courtesy of the web site www.eurocycle.at

Smiles from photos

I just realized how much the April photo on the calendar (at my desk) makes me smile - and I think it's a photo worth sharing!

These 3 bears were caught on camera in Katmai National Park in Alaska by Val Dutter of Carson City, NV - winning 3rd place in the National Parks Pass Photo Contest for 2003

Loops within loops...

Another beautiful spring day meant another day to escape the office at 4:30 (after a full day's work and an early start!) to head home for another quick bike ride. I wanted a slightly shorter ride than yesterday, but I couldn't wrap my head around a reasonable loop. So today's ride was a right-hand-turn-only loop on roads with relatively heavy traffic with more loops within my big loop through neighborhood streets. That was a good choice for an early evening ride - it gave me the biking mileage I wanted along with really not having to deal with traffic.

I have to admit I'm tired - working all day and putting in 2 hours worth of exercise (walking + biking) each day so far this week has put a dent in my energy levels. I think I have a ways to go yet to get back into what I consider to be stellar biking shape, but (I really think that) I'm on my way.

A taste of spring...

...is it finally here to stay?

I got home yesterday to find my new Sidi Dominator rose-colored biking shoes waiting for me at my front door - definitely a nice greeting, and a sure sign of a new biking season to add to the very reasonable weather. (And no, I don't replace my biking shoes every year!)

I made sure to be at work early this morning so I could head home at 4:30, giving me enough time for a reasonable length ride. The first week of daylight savings time provides daylight for a safe and visible ride even at that hour of the day. It was a pleasure to end my work day with a 22 mile ride. My goal is to repeat that slightly early work departure tomorrow so I can do it again!

Last weekend? Saturday was definitely a rainout, but Sunday was better than expected. The sun would peek out, then dark gray clouds would roll in. The sun would... Well, you get the picture. After thinking it was going to rain at any time, I decided to play chicken with the weather and headed out for a short ride. Luck was with me, and my bike and I stayed dry. Here's hoping for more dry weather. I'm putting in my request for rain during the week rather than on the weekend (not that the weather wizard is listening).

My nice new rose-colored Sidi Dom biking shoes. Red isn't my usual color choice, but for some reason these jumped out at me!

The calm before the storm

The weather forecast for the weekend is wet, wet, wet - so I snuck out of the office at 3 this afternoon to head home and to wander off on my bike. It was a good biking day with sunshine and temperatures that were in the low 50s when I started, probably in the high 40s by the time I returned home. It felt good to be out on the bike in relatively light clothing, although I have to say that my choice of a wearing a wind-proof vest rather than a jacket was a little questionable. It was OK at the beginning of the ride, but by the end I was a little chilly. It worked, but I am really looking forward to riding in shorts and a light jersey. It appears I'll have to wait a little longer for that though.

I'm hoping to be able to ride again on Sunday, but I have a feeling that I'll be limited to walking again. The current forecast calls for serious rain Saturday and Saturday night, with an 80% chance of rain on Sunday too. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

A definite sign of spring - clumps of crocus in bloom.

These ducks were happily paddling through what looks like a lake but what is really a very large puddle on someone's lawn!

No, this picture is not upside down! I thought this was an awesome view of a still ice-clogged pond with trees reflected in the portion of the pond that was clear of ice.