Thursday, June 21, 2007

Midsummers night

With the selection of ancestors that I have it is almost certain that some of them spent this holiday dancing naked around some sort of pole. I confess that I used to feel the urge to do so myself. I also confess that this urge has passed. I would say, however, that this evening is a pleasant evening and that it seems like a night on which such a diversion would be possible.

When I got home from work and started gearing up TOPWLH* expressed surprise that I was going to ride. She said that it seemed rainy. Well, it was pretty nasty looking out but it was not at that moment raining and the street was dry. It turns out that her assessment of the weather was based on having to abandon a post-lunch walk around Lake Harriet. I informed her that she was talking about Minneapolis four hours ago. I am a devoted follower of radar weather websites and the rain looked past tense to me. And it was.

I rode and was surprised by the results. I have ridden many days in a row and usually after such a long run I am worn down. Today I felt not only strong but for some unknown reason fresh. I rode harder than I have for some time and felt pretty good doing so. I love my bike.

This is the weekend of the Minnesota Street Rod Association big show at the Fairgrounds. It is only Thursday but some of the cars are already arriving. I thought I might ride past the Fairgrounds and get a picture. I was disappointed in that effort, however, there just isn't a critical mass of the old cars present yet. By Saturday night there will be lines of spectators on lawn chairs on Snelling and an endless procession of old cars. Today to get a picture I had to head to a place where the car owners might be eating. I was able to catch a couple of the rods in the parking lot at Mickey D's.As you can perhaps see these are not exactly restored classics. They are more of the customized hot rod variety. Either way, by Saturday night they will be putting on a good show.

*the other person who lives here (obviously)

4 comments:

Santini said...

Sounds like this tipping point thing is for real. If accumulating fatigue hasn't caught up with you yet, I'd have to say that you're over the hump. Excellent. Yeah, even TOPWLW (The other people we live with) don't pay as much attention to the weather as we do, this time of year. It's part of the sport.

Sorry about the PPS, but it has gotten even more sketchy of late -- beyond the certain parochial charm it may once have had. I could start carrying a deer rifle on my rides, I suppose. Solve two prolems at once.

Anonymous said...

And I like the car photo. SS

Jimi said...

Good. There will be jalopies on the streets around Como and up and down Snelling. There are always some beauts.

Is that Mickey D's in the background? It says KFC on the door. Or is that just next door to the parking lot for Mickey D? Just quibbling.

Emily M said...

Micky D's is right next door to KFC on Snelling. So the cars ARE in the MDs lot, just on the KFC side. So there.