Full ride

I couldn't ride yesterday because of the weather.

It was 60 by mid-afternoon and a ride loomed on the schedule. But in an outcome which would have seemed extremely unlikely as recently as Monday, I got rained out. A brief but intense cell passed through and the streets were deemed too wet for riding.

Today reached 61, I think. The winds were light enough that I declared them to be out of the north despite clear evidence to the contrary. I needed north because I wanted to ride up to the lakes. I had not seen even Owasso for at least a week and I was curious about the status of the ice.

I passed 2 riders on the way north. It wasn't a fair race in either case as they both had the look of less than 100 mile per year riders, one on a 1970s Schwinn (10 speed) and the other on a department store mountain bike (huge knobbies). On the big hill going down to Snail Lake I achieved a new high speed for the year. But before I could get the idea that I was fast I came upon a bike club ride waiting to start at Snail Lake. They had about 40 people milling about the parking lot. It occurred to me that probably about 2/3 of them were going to be faster than me and that if I didn't get out of there immediately the entire group would probably emerge from the parking lot and "on your left" me to despondent distraction. I hit the big ring and hammered.

I rode the full 8 lakes tour and discovered that all of the lakes still feature complete ice coverings. I also encountered a bit of other ice. I rode across a patch of ice probably 50 yards in length on the entrance road to Sucker Lake, an area where the road is in deep shade. I was then further surprised to find that Vadnais is not yet open for the year. The gate across the road is still locked.

With the Vadnais road not available, I ended up having to ride back down to Rice Street. I crossed to the west side of the double lake allowing this seldom seen view of the western lake to be photographed.This is the view from Rice Street. The grove of trees in the right center of the shot is where the parking lot where we usually stop is located.

I passed the time and temperature deal next to the A&W on Rice Street as the temperature changed from 61 to 60. The weather was changing, a cooler wind rising from the south. Still, 60 is pretty OK and I finished the ride without my jacket, a first for this year.TOPWLH was preparing to go for a walk when I got home so I pressed her into service as a photographer. I did the composition of this photo intending to show that there is snow and that there is flowing water in front of our house. I then turned the camera over to her and at the moment of the photo the front yard tableau also featured a satisfied bicyclist.